GUWAHATI Rangers at the Kaziranga National Park in Assam are on a mission that has nothing to do with the coronavirus pandemic the rest of the country is preoccupied with: they are trying to reunite a baby rhino and his mother.
The one-month-old calf was separated from the mother on or around Sunday in the Deopani area near the 430-square-kilometre park, the biggest habitat of one-horned rhinos in the world and home to around 2,400 members of the species.
“The calf got separated from the mother and was found roaming around Deopani area close to the national highway. When we got the information from the nearby villagers, we went and rescued it around 11:00 am on Sunday,” said P Sivakumar, the park’s director.
“We tried to locate the mother but weren’t successful. Since there was a threat to the calf from tigers or other animals, we sent it to the Centre for Wildlife Rehabilitation and Conservation (CWRC),” he added.
Located in Borjuri village near the national park, CWRC is the only facility in India where orphaned or injured wild animals are hand-raised or treated before being returned to the wild.
“The calf is a male weighing around 70 kilograms. It was very dehydrated and weak. Treatment and its care are underway. Hopefully, we will be to feed it prepared milk using a bottle,” said Rathin Barman, in-charge of CWRC.
{{/usCountry}}“The calf is a male weighing around 70 kilograms. It was very dehydrated and weak. Treatment and its care are underway. Hopefully, we will be to feed it prepared milk using a bottle,” said Rathin Barman, in-charge of CWRC.
{{/usCountry}}Every year, the centre handles several baby rhinos and elephants that are rescued during the annual floods that submerge most areas of the park.
“We have engaged our people in the Deopani area to trace the mother as she should be in that particular location. There are around 50 rhinos in that area. “Without knowing the mother, we can’t release the calf into the herd as there is a possibility of an adult rhino attacking it,” said Sivakumar.
Baby rhinos are extremely attached to their mothers, with whom they stay for around three years before venturing out on their own.
“Since the baby is very small, it must have been suckling. As there is a threat to it if it’s left in the wild, it is better for it to stay at CWRC till the mother is found. It’s a challenging task, but personnel at the centre are experienced and well-equipped to handle such babies,” said Bibhab Talukdar, founder of the wildlife NGO Aaranyak.