MIGHTY RHINO FACES DOOM

By Osama Manzar
Will the great Indian rhino (Rhinoceros unicornis) follow the path of its extinct predecessors i.e. the dinosaur and the dodo? Going by the odious shadow of poachers and turbulent water of the Brahmaputra river, this appears imminent.
The massive animal is facing two major threats: the surging water of the Brahmaputra are out inundate its primary abode, the Kaziranga National Park and the poachers are hunting them down for the sake of their horns, which are currently fetching a good price in the international market. Kaziranga National Park is the largest unspoilt area of the flood plains of the Brahmaputra which forms its northern boundary. Permanent wetlands comprise six per cent of the park area and the river in Un-dates 80 to 90 per cent of the grasslands, which themselves cover 60 percent of the sanctuary.
The National Highway No. 37 cuts through the lower edge of the park from the north-east to the south-west.
‘The park is bounded by tea gardens, paddy fields and Jhum cultivation from three sides. Mercifully, the floods that submerge the park and constitute a bane for the rhino, keep away potential human encroachers. Within these geographical confines is struggling the Rhinoceros unicornis for survival with 14 other threatened mammal species of India.
‘The onslaught of the Brahmaputra water has reduced the park area from 43,1 square kilometres to 378 sq.kms. Iii 1988, severe floods claimed the lives of over 80 rhinoceros. ‘tarvation also claims casualties as female rhinoceros refuse ‘to leave the area for fear that their calves would follow and get drowned.
The increase in vehicular traffic on National Highway ‘No. 37 and the proposed railway line are also adding to their woes. Noise levels have prompted the environmentalists to plead shift of the railway line. As if the nature’s depredations were not enough the human ferocity emerged as the major foe of this armour-skinned beast Rhino population is being systematically decimated by poachers.
Since 1974,, 400 of the rhinoceros have been killed for their valuable horns. One kilogram of rhino-horn fetches between Rs. one to five lakhs in the international market while each horn weigh about 800 grams. They are in great demand as an aphordisiac and also as a poison detector. The receptacle of rhino-horn is supposed to crack when poisonous substances are filled into it. Rhino-horn is also sought for carving exquisite decorative cups, trinkets, especially dagger handles, much fancied by some foreign buyers.
Though the latest wildlife census puts the number of rhinoceros at around 1200, leading veterinarians associated with the park feel that there are only 300 to 400 of the beasts are surviving. According to the wildlife officials, in the last three years alone atleast 100 rhinoceros were killed by organised poacher gangs who had links with clandestine merchants in Singapore, Hong Kong Thailand and Yemen. Official surveys too have shown that rhino, poaching is on the rise.
During 1966, 1967, 1968 1970, five, ten, eight and ten of these animals were killed by .poachers. But the killings grew alarmingly to 25 in 1981, between 40 to 45 in 1985 and 28 in 1990. of late the poachers, who include Nagas, Nepalis, immigrants and local Assamese settlers have taken recourse to laying electric wire fences around their settlements. For this they tap high-tension wires that criss-cross the park. This is mostly employed in” the riverine islets and wet Savannab grasslands. The animals are there by killed by electrocution. Poach-era use US made carbines and rifles fitted with silencers and stenguns of which there is North-scarcity in the insurgency prone North-East states.
The Central Government has earmarked Rs. five crores under the rhino conservation scheme in Assam last year. But the amount held to be totally insufficient as the surveillance scheme covers seven other sanctuaries in the state. In such circumstances one could count the number of the rhino, the gorgeous inhabitant of the Kaziranga National Park. Unless steps are taken to help people live harmoniously with the biological diversity of nature the doom of the rhinoceros cannot be stalled. (FANA)