One-horned rhino population rises in NE India
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E-mail Xinhua, April 11, 2012
A census of one-horned rhinos at the renowned Kaziranga National Park (KNP) in India's northeast state Assam recorded an increase of 250 animals in three years, reported a local daily Tuesday in Guwahati, the state capital of Assam.
![Asian Rhinoceros seen in its tall grass habitat. [File photo]](http://images.china.cn/attachement/jpg/site1007/20120411/0014222d985010ef326514.jpg "Asian Rhinoceros seen in its tall grass habitat. [File photo]") |
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Asian Rhinoceros seen in its tall grass habitat. [File photo] |
The last census in 2009 recorded 2,048 rhinos in KNP, of which eight were trans-located to Manas National Park.
The two-day-long census, which ended late Sunday evening, recorded the presence of 2,290 one-horned rhinos in the Park, a senior official involved in the census operation said.
"This indicates a healthy growth of the rhino population in the park. We are happy about the growth and now, we are only 495 rhinos short of attaining a 3,000 rhino population, which was the target of Indian Rhino Vision (IRV) 2020," he said.
The IRV, 2020 is a joint program of the Assam forest department, World Wildlife Fund for Nature (WWF) and International Rhino Foundation (IRF) with the goal of attaining a population of 3,000 wild rhinos in seven protected areas of Assam by the year 2020.
With 2,290 rhinos in KNP, Assam's total rhino population now stands at 2,505. The census operation, which was carried out last month at Pabitora wildlife sanctuary in Morigaon district recorded 93 rhinos while the Rajiv Gandhi National Park at Orang in Darrang district recorded 100 rhinos. There were another 22 one-horned rhinos in Manas National Park in Assam.
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