Indian rhinoceros                                   

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Context: The Assam government has announced a reward of ₹5 lakh for information leading to the recovery of the horn of a rhino that was killed by poachers in the Kaziranga National Park and Tiger Reserve about a month ago.

• Assam government declared 2021 as the year with the least cases of rhino poaching in 21 years.

Great Indian rhinoceros

• The Indian rhinoceros also called greater one-horned rhinoceros or great Indian rhinoceros is a rhinoceros species native to the Indian subcontinent.
• It is the only large mammal species in Asia to be down-listed from endangered to vulnerable in the International Union for Conservation of Nature, IUCN Red list in 2008.
• The extent and quality of the rhino's most important habitat are considered to be in decline due to hunting, agricultural development in tarai region and livestock encroachment.
• Indian rhinos once ranged throughout the entire stretch of the Indo-Gangetic Plain has reduced drastically to 11 sites in northern India and southern Nepal.

Indian Rhino Vision 2020 (IRV2020)

• Designed in 2005, the IRV2020 is believed to have achieved its target of attaining a population of 3,000 rhinos in Assam.
• But the plan to spread the Rhinoceros unicornis across four protected areas beyond Kaziranga National Park, Orang National Park and Pobitora could not materialise.
• Wild-to-wild translocations were an essential part of IRV2020 – moving rhinos from densely populated parks like Kaziranga NP, to ones in need of more rhinos, like Manas NP.
• Rhinos are now found in four Protected Areas in Assam: Pabitora Wildlife Reserve, Rajiv Gandhi Orang National Park, Kaziranga National Park, and Manas National Park.

About KNP:

• Kaziranga National park’s is home to more than 2200 Indian one-horned rhinoceros, approximately 2/3rd of their total world population.
• It is located in the edge of the Eastern Himalayan biodiversity hotspots – Golaghat and Nagaon district.
• In 1985, it was declared as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO.
• It was declared as Tiger Reserve in 2006.
• It is recognized as an Important Bird Area by BirdLife International for the conservation of avifaunal species.

https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/help-recover-poached-rhino-horn-get-5-lakh-assam-govt/article38364775.ece?homepage=true