We are familiar with these large lumbering creatures. But soon Rhinos may just be pictures in books. The pride of the Kaziranga National Park, there are now just about 2000 of them left in the wild.
What does the future hold for these animals? Watch the “Jungle Gang Meets the Rhino”, a movie by WWF-India that offers a sneak peek into their lives in the green depths of the Kaziranga. Made by Krishnendu Bose, an eminent wildlife filmmaker, in association with Dharma Singh, it combines live action and 3D animation, to explore the life of the Indian Rhino, its habitat, threats and the conservation efforts made to save it. Bose has been shooting for two years in Kaziranga and that has been made into this 16 minute film.
“Rhinos don’t get talked about much. Most of the remaining rhino population is now concentrated in Kaziranga. That’s a fragile situation because an outbreak of disease can just wipe them out. There was a time when the sanctuary was managed well. But in the last three years or so, poaching has been on the rise,” says Bose. The film tracks the life of rhinos but not through voiceovers. We journey with Kuttu, a Slender Loris, Bhura, the Black Buck, and Boo, a Bar-Headed Geese to understand these shy nervous animals.
Calm or not?
Oona, Bose’s 13-year-old daughter, saw the first draft of the film and suggested, “Put in jokes. Let’s have some fun while learning about serious issues”. Bose got together some of her friends and rewrote the script with them.
“The young script writers put in the fun bits. The punch lines and humour,” says Bose.
Rhinos aren’t the friendliest of creatures and can get quite aggressive. The opening visuals of one quietly grazing could belie that but wait till towards the end of the film where you have some super shots of an enraged animal charging. “Shooting rhinos isn’t easy. They are large and therefore easy to spot. But while making a film we have to go close to the animal. They don’t see very well and so when they hear us approaching they get nervous and charge,” explains Bose. Shooting in the wild is full of heart stopping moments. But as Bose says, “There is always this awareness that you have come into someone else’s house. You can’t help but admire the web of life where everything exists in such symbiosis.”
It’s not everyday that rhinos come to school. But that can be organised. Request a screening of the movie and soon school will be all about an escape into the wilds!
For more info email
ssam@wwfindia.net or
call 011- 4351-6248.
the only remaining population of rhinos is concentrated in kaZiranga! And that’s a fragile situation. one epidemic can wipe them all out.
