Guwahati, Sept 22 (PTI) Assam’s Environment and Forest Minister Jayanta Malla Baruah on Tuesday said the one-horned rhinoceros has made a remarkable comeback in Manas National Park, with more than 50 of the animals now roaming freely in the UNESCO World Heritage Site.
In a social media post on World Rhino Day, Baruah said the rhino population in Manas had been wiped out by 1993 due to poaching and conflict. Before their disappearance, the park was estimated to have 75-100 rhinos.
“But the story did not end there,” the minister said, crediting years of conservation efforts, habitat protection, reintroduction programmes and community participation for bringing the species back to Manas.
More than 50 greater one-horned rhinos are now found in the park, and the population is breeding, which, Baruah said, is an encouraging indication that the species is establishing itself and building a sustainable future in its restored habitat.
Manas has also recorded zero known rhino poaching for three consecutive years, reflecting sustained efforts by the forest department, he said.
“From zero rhinos to a growing, breeding population. From a species lost from the landscape to rhinos once again moving freely through the grasslands of Manas,” Baruah said.
He described the comeback as an example of the power of conservation when determination, protection and community participation come together.
“Manas has gone from zero to hero, and every rhino born here is a symbol of Assam’s promise to protect its wildlife and restore what was once lost,” the minister said.
Manas National Park was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1985 and a Biosphere Reserve in 1989.
The park was placed on UNESCO’s List of World Heritage in Danger in 1992 amid unrest by Bodo militants, during which hundreds of trees were destroyed and wildlife killed. The conflict resulted in the loss of all the park’s rhinoceroses and about 50 per cent of its tigers.
The danger status was withdrawn in 2011 following conservation efforts. PTI DG DG SOM
(PTI News)
