GUWAHATI: The rhino population at the Kaziranga National Park has increased by 200 over the past four years, thanks to the coordinated efforts of the forest department, police and civil administration.
The latest census, conducted from March 25-28 at a rhino-bearing area of 864 sq km, put the animal’s number at the World Heritage Site at 2,613 – 200 more than the 2018 census figures of 2,413.
The park’s director Jatindra Sarma told The New Indian Express that the rise in the animal’s number was due to strong anti-poaching activities.
“As the government’s policy is zero tolerance against poaching, monitoring has increased significantly. The forest department, civil administration and police are working as a team,” Sarma said.
He said the number of rhinos increased by 200 even after the deaths of 400 others due to poaching and natural causes.
Talking about the census, he said the actual counting was done from March 26-27.
“On March 25, a training-cum-briefing was imparted to the enumerators by the experts. On March 28, sample survey was conducted in 26 compartments randomly selected. Altogether 64 enumerators, 12 independent observers, 49 media observers participated in the exercise,” Sarma said.
He said 50 elephants were used to cover all 84 compartments spread over the park, its addition areas and civil areas. Altogether 252 frontline staff were directly involved in the exercise.
“GPS and binoculars were provided to the enumerators for better observation. For the first time, drone technology was also used for sample recheck. Computation of the data was carried out on March 28 by a committee…” the park director added.
Of the 2,613 rhinos estimated, 1,823 are adults, 365 sub-adults, 279 juveniles and 146 calves. The females outnumber the males by 183. The gender of 273 could not be ascertained during the census.