Two more Rare Great One-Horned Rhinos are poached in last 48 hours in Assam, India. Assam which is the last surviving land for the magnificent One-Rhinos has seen an increase in the poaching of the Rhinos in the last year. The recent two kills are first report of Rhino poaching of 2013.

First two killings of Rhinos of the year reported from Assam - courtesy pardaphash.com

Kaziranga National Park, which houses more than 50% of the world’s wild population of One-Horned Rhino, is usually praised for recent protection and conservation process for this rare mammal. But in recent years the poaching in and around the National Park has increased drastically. The poachers are also backed by the devastating flood by the river Brahmaputra that flows through the park. The Rhinos come out of the park during these flood days and become easy target of poachers. The forest authorities also shows a lack of effort and intention to protect these rare animals. Along with the Rhinos, many other animals like elephant, deers are killed during the flood.

In a recent statement published by the authority, there were at lest 42 Rhinos killed in the Kaziranga National Park in the year 2012, of which, 15 were killed by poachers and 27 died due to floods. Not to mention thousands of other big and small animals falling victim to the poachers and flood both.

Though most of the killings are attributed to the flood, the recent killings are not related to it. As the current season in the region is dry, these two killings are mere failure of the authority. Both the rhino carcasses, which were recovered by forest officials on Friday, bore bullet injuries. The horns were missing, and poachers are suspected to have made off with these.

Greater One-Horned Rhinoceros, also known as Indian Rhinoceros, is exclusively found in Assam state of North-East India and in the in the Terai region of Nepal. Its most significant difference to African Rhinoceros is the single horn on its head compared to two horns of the African counterpart.

The Scientific Name: Rhinoceros Unicornis

Where is it found?

One-horned rhinos once ranged across the entire northern part of the Indian subcontinent, along the Indus, Ganges and Brahmaputra River basins, from Pakistan to the Indian-Burmese border, including parts of Nepal, Bangladesh and Bhutan. They may have also existed in Myanmar, southern China and Indochina. But their habitat shrunk due to human influences and now confined to only eastern region of India and Terai region of Nepal. Two Third of the wild population of the species is found in Brahmaputra valley of Assam, North-East India only. Kaziranga National Park in Assam is home to more than 1500 One Horned Rhinoceros.

How does it look?

Greater one horned rhino is the largest living species of Rhinoceros, with African White Rhinoceros. The males are larger in size than the females. It weighs 1800 – 3000 Kg on average, but the largest specimen is known to have weighed around 4000 kg. Males have an average length of 3.1–3.8 meters with a shoulder height of 1.6-2.0 meters, while females have an average length of 3.0–3.4 meters and a shoulder height of 1.4-1.8 meters(6 feet). Greater one-horned rhinos have one horn, present in both adult male and female. It typically grows around 20 cm long, and weighs up to 2-3 kg. The longest ever recorded horn is 58 cm. The horn is pure keratin, has the same structure as the hooves of horses and re-grows if broken. It is not used for fighting but for the search of food and foraging for roots. Armour-plating appearance is the most interesting feature of Greater one horn rhino along with it’s horn. The Armour plating is actually thick folds of shin. Several prominent folds of skin protect the neck. The skin can have a maximum thickness of 4 cm; the subcutaneous fat is 2-5 cm thick and well supplied with blood, which helps therm-regulation, so that the animal is able to regulate its own body temperature in varying weather conditions. Between the folds, around the stomach, the inner legs and the facial area, the skin is rather soft and thin.

How does it live?

The Indian One horn Rhinoceros live on wide variety plants, mainly grass, fruits, leaves, branches of trees, shrubs, submerged and floating aquatic plants and sometimes agricultural crops too. Due to their love of aquatic plants, they are usually found near water sources. Socially the One-horned Rhinos mostly live in solitary. Two mature Rhinos are found together only during mating season. The calf accompany mother up to 4 years. Sometimes mother allow even the older calf to accompany with a new born. Though the One horn Rhinos are solitary in nature, they are usually friendly to each other when confronted. But males are known to fight with each other and this fights can even turn out to be fatal to the weaker contender at times. The territories of males are also defined loosely and often overlaps. The territory can extend 4-8 square km in area. The female attains maturity at the age of 7 years while the males after 10-12 years. The gestation period is 16 months. The average life of One-horned Rhino is around 40 years. The maximum recorded age is 47 years.

What are the threats?

In the early 20th century the One horn Rhinoceros almost reached a phase of extinction. This was attributed to habitat shrinking due to human population rise and agriculture. Sport hunting during 1800-1900 was another grave reason to it’s decline. According to reports, in 1908 only 12 Rhinos were surviving in the Kaziranga. But strict conservation measures were put for the species and the population increased encouragingly in specific pockets. But the Rhino faced extinction in most of the ranges in northern India. In recent times, poaching is considered as the most alarming threat to the Greater One Horn Rhinoceros. In Traditional Chinese belief, the Horn of the Rhino is considered cure to many diseases like fever, rheumatism, gout etc. and also it is considered as aphrodisiac. Like China, the Rhino horn has traditional demand in various other countries of Asia. Though there is no scientific base for all these believes, the Rhino horn fetches exotic price in the black market. This is the main reason for increasing poaching of the species which mounts to more than hundred every year. Apart from poaching, Rhino habitat mostly coincides with populous human habitats. This continuously is bringing the wetlands and other habitat of the species as those lands are converted into cultivation. Increasing human-wildlife conflicts also is a major threat to the species. In some places, human interventions have also brought invasive alien plants into Rhino habitat shrinking their food availability.

Conservation Efforts

Since the beginning of 20th century, major conservation efforts have been put to save the Magnificent Rhino species. All Rhinos in wild now live in special protected zones in both India and Nepal. There are anti-poaching measures placed in all these zones, but it requires strict implementation and proper infrastructure and resources. There have been efforts to prevent invasive plants and also to increase the area of habitat. The species is listed in CITES Appendix I since 1975. WWF has been very active in conserving the species along with other local organizations. There have been also efforts on translocation of the One horn Rhino since 1980s.

Alka, an elephant at the Orang National Park brings joy to wildlife animal lovers, as she created a history by giving birth to twins in the sanctuary on 15th December. Alka has engaged at the National Park to ferry thousands of tourists inside the wildlife sanctury for several years. Orang is situated in Assam, North-East India. The National Park, aka Rajib Gandhi National Park, is located on the north bank of the river Brahmaputra and around 150 km west of the capital city of the state Assam. It is home to rich flora and fauna, including the Great Indian One-Horned Rhinoceros, Pigmy hog, Elephants, Wild buffalo and Tigers.

Alka with her one day old little twins

The twin elephant calves, both female, were seen enjoying the warmth of their mother as Alka’s mahout Trailokya Bishya, who passed a sleepless night to protect the twins from the tigers, watched over them.

“I was on ambush duty in a camp a little away. Around 3 a.m. I heard Alka yelling in labour pain. At crack of dawn, when I reached her I was overjoyed to see that she had already given birth,” Mr. Baishya told. He lit a fire, preparing to guard the mother and the twins. Mr. Baishya was vigilant against possible tiger attacks. The 80-sq. km. park has an estimated 16 Royal Bengal Tigers.

Twins are extremely rare in the domesticated world of elephants. It is rare because a large-bodied animal would have to invest significantly higher effort to obtain nutritious food for twin foetuses. It is more likely to occur in wild elephants who have access to both wild food as well as cultivated crops which are more nutritious.

India has recorded Elephant twins birth more than a decade ago in Mudumalai wildlife sanctuary in Tamil Nadu. 2010 turns out to be an exceptional year for Elephants as this is the second report of Elephant twins in the same year. Early this year, Phang Thong Khun, an elephant from Thailand gave birth to male twins.