Assam: Manas National Park to get three rhinos, displaced from Kaziranga

Guwahati: Three female rhino calves that were rescued from Kaziranga National Park area during the devastating monsoon floods in 2016 will find their new homes in Manas National Park.

The three calves are being shifted to a pre-release boma in Manas park and, after a period of careful monitoring, will be released into the wild, Kaziranga National Park's Divisional Forest Officer Rohini Ballav Saikia said.

"The translocation of these rhinos will add to the existing gene pool of Manas National Park and open up more avenues for research in terms of behaviour of these calves in a new landscape," he added.

The calves, rescued by the local people from the floodwaters of Haldhibari, Deopani and Sildubi areas, adjacent to Kaziranga, were hand-raised at the Centre for Wildlife Rehabilitation and Conservation (CWRC) in Assam.

CWRC's lead veterinarians Panjit Basumatary, Samshul Ali, and a team of animal keepers have taken care of the calves from the time they were brought to the centre.

All three rhinos are in good health and have been ear-tagged for easy identification, Basumatary said.