Maju was orphaned in February, 2009 when his mother had to be killed by forest guards after she charged at a team of researchers at Kaziranga National Park, while a dehydrated Raja was rescued in January, 2008, in Kaziranga. The whereabouts of his mother was unknown.
After veterinary care at the CWRC, the two rhinos are now all set to be released in Manas. CWRC is a joint project of the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW), Wildlife Trust of India (WTI) and Assam forest department. Maju and Raja will join three other rescued rhinos that were released in Manas by the Assam forest department and IFAW-WTI in 2006.
"The rehabilitation of rescued rhinos is one of the pioneering conservation exercises taken up successfully in the state," principal chief conservator of forests (wildlife) Suresh Chand said. WTI executive director Vivek Menon said the initiative helps rhinos return to the wild instead of spending their life in captivity.
The second phase of 'wild-to-wild' rhino translocation from Kaziranga to Manas will take off on Sunday. The translocation of rhinos is being undertaken as the Indian Rhino Vision (IRV) 2020 project, which envisages repopulating one-horned pachyderm in Manas. It has been planned that in the second phase three to four rhinos will be taken out from Kaziranga and released in Manas. Read the full report here.
Source: Times News Network, Guwahati.
