Guwahati, Feb 21: One sub-adult rhino, Maju has been shifted to Manas National Park from Centre for Wildlife Rehabilitation and Conservation (CWRC), Kaziranga today. The rhino will be released in the wild following a period of in situ acclimatisation in the UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Maju, a male, was less than one month old when he was found alone on 10th of September of 2009 at Baghmari area under Western Range of Kaziranga national Park, a World Heritage Site. He was separated from mother for unknown reason. He was rescued and admitted at CWRC for rehabilitation. Following the proven rhino rehabilitation protocol of CWRC, he was hand-reared at CWRC. He is about four years old now. He will join another two sub-adult rhinos at the pre-released site at Manas which were shifted from CWRC in January this year.
CWRC is a wildlife rehabilitation facility jointly run by Assam Forest Department and International Fund for Animal Welfare – Wildlife Trust of India (IFAW-WTI). CWRC has been serving the animals in distress in and around Kaziranga since 2002 and successfully rehabilitated rhinos since 2006. Other than rhinos, CWRC has been involved in rescue and rehabilitation of about 3500 animals since 2002 and more than 50% of these rescued animals were successfully returned to their own habitat.
During the 400 km journey to Manas, the rhino was escorted by Dr. Rathin Barman, Deputy Director and Dr Anjan Talukdar, veterinarian of IFAW-WTI. They wereaccompanied by CWRC animal keepers Mr. Lakhiram Das, Mr. Ramen Das who had been taking care of the rhino at the centre.(SP News)
