Translocation of rhino and elephant calves from Kaziranga starts

Guwahati, Feb 23 (UNI) A rhino calf and two baby elephants today set out from the Kaziranga National Park (KNP) to their new home in the Manas National Park as part of a translocation plan.

The three animal calves were tranquilised for the journey, which started this evening, with the animals scheduled to arrive at Manas in the Bodoland heartland tomorrow morning.

A team of veterinary experts from the state Veterinary College in Guwahati, led by Dr Binoy Dutta, was supervising the translocation. The calves were being sent from the KNP Borjuri centre of the Centre for Wildlife Rehabilitation and Conservation (CWRC), where they were lodged after being rescued from different places.

The one-and-half-year old female baby rhino was rescued from Hathikhuli tea estate on September 16 last year after the mother rhino was poached the very same day.

Of the two elephant calves, the two-year calf was rescued from Balijan area near Bokakhat in November 2005, while the other calf was rescued as a one-and-half-month calf from Baithalngso.

This was the second rhino translocation to Manas from KNP after three rhinos were relocated in the former in 2006.

The translocation was being carried out jointly by Wildlife Trust of India, state Forest department and International Fund for Animal Welfare.

Manas National Park, demoted to World Heritage Site in Danger list in 1992 due to rampant poaching owing to Bodo militancy, was emerging as a bright example in wildlife conservation.

The former poachers had taken up the responsibility of regaining for Manas its lost glory and massive conservation work in on in Manas now.

UNI SG SJC RN1655