Representational file image of a one horned Rhino. | Photo Credit: RITU RAJ KONWAR

GUWAHATI

The greater one-horned rhinoceros has returned to central Assam’s Laokhowa-Burachapori Wildlife Sanctuary after 40 years, officials said.

A part of the Greater Kaziranga landscape, the 309.2 sq. km wildlife sanctuary (WLS) in the Nagaon district had at least 45 rhinos until 1983. Large-scale encroachment and poaching wiped them out although stray rhinos from Orang National Park across the Brahmaputra River and the Kaziranga National Park to the east were known the enter the WLS very briefly.

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“Happy to share that after 40 years our iconic rhinos have returned to Laokhowa and Burachapori. They have returned within 1 year of our successful anti-encroachment operation in the region,” Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma wrote on X, formerly Twitter, Friday evening, adding that 51.7 sq. km of forest cover was retrieved after the eviction drive in 2023.

Wildlife officials said the two rhinos are believed to have entered through Arimari, where 1,282 hectares of forest land and 817 hectares of unsurveyed government land were cleared of encroachers from February 13-15, 2023.

“Rhinos have been sighted in Laokhowa-Burachapori, an excellent habitat of freshwater mangroves, since November 2023. The WLS also has a record of 10 tigers indicating a good prey base of herbivores,” Sonali Ghosh, Kaziranga’s field director, said.

Greater protection of the sanctuary has been attributed to recruits and 75 frontline positions that were filled up recently.

School campaign

A biodiversity conservation group organised a series of campaigns titled ‘Rhino goes to school’ for the students of schools in the vicinity of Kaziranga National Park and Tiger Reserve. A total of 900 students participated in the programmes entailing quizzes and audio-visual presentations.

The programme was organised at the Luhitmukh Higher Secondary School located on the fringes of the Biswanath Wildlife Division of the tiger reserve.

“As part of the awareness campaign, students were educated on diverse aspects of rhinos, their habits and habitats, and the role they play in ecosystems and for our well-being,” Arif Hussain of Aaranyak said.

The other events were organised at the Luhitmukh Girls’ High School, Namoni Mishing Middle English School, and No. 2 Bortamuli Lower Primary School.