MUMBAI: Two rescued rhinoceros have been given new homes in Eastern India at the Manas National Park, officials said. The two rhinos, Maju and Raja, have journeyed from Bokahat-based Center for Wildlife Rehabilitation and Conservation (CWRC) to the Manas park. The move is part of India's efforts to translocate animals, especially rhinos, as part of its “wild-to-wild” approach that aims to give animals a better life, but maintaining their living in the wild. The Manas National Park is home to much of India's endangered species and the famous wild water buffalo. It is contiguous with a park by the same name in neighboring Bhutan. The center told Bikyamasr.com on Saturday that “the goal is to help animals who are struggling to survive, for whatever reasons, in their current habitat. In Manas, they should get a new lease on life.” The center said that Maju had been orphaned when his mother charged a group of researchers in the Kaziranga National Park and was shot dead by park guards. Raja was rescued a year earlier after being discovered dehydrated and his mother could not be found. 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. Four rhinos have already successfully translocated from Kaziranga to Manas last month while two female rhinos were translocated from Pobitora wildlife sanctuary to Manas in January. Manas, which lost its rhinos to poachers during the 1990s, now has 14 rhinos. All the rhinos were translocated from Pobitora and Kaziranga. BM ShortURL: http://goo.gl/N7jH3 Tags: India, Manas, Rhino, Translocation Section: Animals, Environment, Going Green, Latest News, South Asia
