Assam’s rhino conservation success story has added another feather in its cap with the birth of a greater one-horned calf at the Manas National Park. On Saturday (Oct 31), Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma took to social media to announce that the calf was born to Ganga-A, daughter of Ganga, the rhino rescued during the Brahmaputra floods in 2004.
“Her daughter, Ganga-A, has given birth to an adorable calf at Manas National Park. One rescued rhino has become three generations thriving in the wild. That’s what conservation looks like. After attempts to reunite her with her mother were unsuccessful, this orphaned rhino was taken into full-time care at three months old. Rhinos play a key role in landscaping as they naturally manage the grasslands, ensuring that these ecosystems are well-balanced for other species to thrive. However, rhinos are in danger. The horn of the rhino is wrongly believed by some to have medicinal properties, and this has led to rampant poaching.
During the monsoon season in 2004, the Wildlife Trust of India (WTI) and International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) worked together to rescue a tiny, stranded rhino calf separated from her mother. The team named her Ganga, and now, 22 years later, she has become a grandma. Assam, which houses 80 per cent of the world’s one-horned rhinos, achieved a major conservation milestone this year. On the occasion of World Rhino Day (Sep 22), CM Sarma announced that not a single poaching incident was recorded in the state.
Highlighting that three generations of rhinos were now thriving and growing in Assam, Sarma said Ganga was a proud ‘granny’ and enjoying her time with the family. “This World Rhino Day, we let the numbers do the talking!” said Sarma.
