 Reference Base  Alarm call for Great Indian rhino (Rhinoceros unicornis) |
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Baidya, K.N., 1982. Alarm call for Great Indian rhino (Rhinoceros unicornis). Tiger Paper 9 (2): 6-7, fig. 1
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| Location: |
Asia - South Asia - India |
| Subject: |
Distribution - Records |
| Species: |
Indian Rhino |
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The Government of India's recent plan to translocate a few great Indian rhinos to some other potentially suitable habitat, has caused controversy in North-Eastem Assam State.
The great Indian one-homed rhinoceros (Rhinoceros unicornis), an animal once at the point of extinction, is still a major attraction for tourists visiting the marshy and difficult Kaziranga Sanctuary of Assam.
Regarding the controversy over the translocation scheme, it has been argued that the proposal to translocate the rhino is designed to gradually strip the state of an important tourist attraction. A group of students in their recent protest note to the Prime Minister, Mrs. Indira Gandhi, mentioned that the proposed translocation scheme of what they call 'Assam Rhino' into any other reserve, outside Assam, will 'deprive the people of Assain of an object of their hereditary pride.' The agitated student groups are receiving support from some local politi- cians, 'conservationists', and wildlife officials.
The wildlife authorities in New Delhi are surprised at the controvery and feel that the rhino translocation programme is based on sound conservation principles. They say that Kaziranga Sanctuary, whose total area is about 425 kmy , is overstocked with rhinos and some of them must be shifted to new suitable habitats.
The experts recornended last year that six rhinos should be lifted out of Kaziranga and introduced into Dudhwa National Park in the Northern State of Uttar Pradesh. A few others could be translocated in later stages into the State Reserves in the Northern part of West Bengal.
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