Two female rhinos — a mother and a calf which were successfully translocated from central Assam's Pabitora Wildlife Sanctuary to the Manas National Park in lower Assam — were released in the World Heritage Site on Wednesday.
This is the second successful translocation of rhinos under the Indian Rhino Vision (IRV) 2020.
The IRV is aimed at increasing the total rhino population of the State to 3,000 rhinos by the year 2020.
It will ensure that rhinos are distributed over at least seven protected areas of the State.
The first translocation of rhinos was done in 2008 when two male rhinos of the Pabitora Wildlife Sanctuary were translocated to Manas.
Chief Operation Officer of the Translocation Core Committee of and Chief Conservator of Forests (Wildlife) D.M. Singh told The Hindu that both the mother and the calf were doing fine in the Manas National Park.
More translocations planned
Mr. Singh said that the third and fourth translocations from Pabitora to Manas is planned for January, the third one before Magh Bihu, and the fourth in post-Bihu period.
Altogether 20 rhinos were to be translocated to the wild from the Pabitora sanctuary and Kaziranga park, to the Manas National Park.
Asian Rhino Coordinator of the International Rhino Foundation and a member of the translocation core committee, Bibhab Kumar Talukdar, said that the capturing of the two female rhinos started around 5.30 a.m. on Tuesday and was completed around 3.30 p.m.
Later they were taken from Pabitora in the evening to Manas.
Better monitoring
The mother rhino has been radio-collared for better monitoring.
Following this, the number of rhinos translocated in the Manas National Park has increased to seven, which includes five females and two males.
