Protecting Wildlife! Bihar To Increase Population Of One-Horned Rhinos By 3% Every Year

Protecting the country's diverse flora and fauna has constituted a share of both centre and state policies. Recently the Assam government marked a remarkable achievement by recording zero poaching cases and ensuring the land is safe for the Great one-horned Rhino.

Following this, the Bihar state government has now announced that they would be dedicating efforts to increasing the population of the greater one-horned Rhinos by three per cent annually. As a part of this project, they have also decided to increase rhino-bearing areas in Valmiki Tiger Reserve (VTR) in the West Champaran district by five per cent in the next two years.

A Safe Haven For Rhinos

The decision to increase the population of the one-horned Rhino was taken at the third Asian Rhino Range Countries Meeting held from February 3 to 5. The Rhino range countries - India, Bhutan, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Nepal, signed the Chitwan Declaration for the conservation of the Asian Rhinos and agreed on managing the population of Javan, Sumatran, and one-horned Rhinos by achieving at least three per cent population growth rate annually.

The decisions taken during the meeting in Chitwan are expected to translate into action in Bihar, according to a statement given by PK Gupta, Chief Wildlife Warden of Bihar. Gupta also added that the VTR had been selected as one of the potential sites under the National Rhino Conservation Strategy. Currently, the potentially identified areas for the reintroduction of the rhinos scheme in VTR are Ganauli and Madanpur. Earlier, too, after assessing security and habitat conditions in the VTR, they had suggested measures for the species reintroduction in the reserve along with the formation of a security and habitat assessment committee in January 2020.

Intensive Monitoring For Population Growth

As a part of this goal, the Environment, Forests, and Climate Change department of the state government will also be constituting a Rhino Task Force for monitoring and patrolling purposes. The VTR, established in 1990, is spread across an area of 909.86 sq km in the West Champaran district of Bihar. It has been home to an adult free-ranging male rhino for the past two years. Since 2001 and 2002, the movement of about 15 rhinos has been reported across the VTR boundary.

According to a Hindustan Times report there are about 14 captive rhinos in the Patna Zoo as part of the conservation breeding programme. Their offspring are planned for reintroduction to the wild. Gupta conveyed that earlier, there were concerns regarding their population flourishing as two female rhinos had died due to train accidents between 2006 and 2013. However, now with the project, Bihar is all set for the biggest breeding programme for the Asian one-horned Rhino in the country.

Also Read: 'Gentle Giant Much Safer Now!': Assam Records Zero Rhino Poaching In 2022; Lowest In Over 20 Years