3 new habitats for rhinos in Jaldapara, Gorumara and Buxa Tiger Reserve

SOUMITRA NANDI, MP, 13 Dec 2023, Kolkata: The Forest department is developing three new habitats for rhinoceros in a bid to balance their population that has exponentially increased both at Jaldapara and Gorumara National Park in North Bengal. The new habitats for the one-horned rhinos are coming up at Patlakhawa in Cooch Behar, at Nimti under Buxa Tiger Reserve and at Lankapara under the Jaldapara National Park. 

“The greatest challenge for the department is to develop the infrastructure of these new habitats so that the animals find no difficulty in adjusting to the conditions. There needs to be a wallow pool, adequate water bodies and most importantly grassland that suits their eating habits. 

The protection infrastructure is also of utmost importance,” Debal Roy, state Chief Wildlife Warden said. 

The protection measures include adequate facilities for the forest guards who conduct vigilance rounds on the back of elephants to prevent poaching. “Vehicles cannot be used by the guards to keep an eye on the rhino movement as the forest where they thrive best is covered with grass that often grows upto 12 feet,” a senior official of the Forest department said. 

Watch towers are also being constructed which will have lodging facilities for the patrolling elephants in the ground floor, for the staff in the second floor, beat offices in the third and the tower’s viewing point at greater height. 

An estimated Rs 15 crore each will be spent for development of infrastructure in these new habitats. In 1982-83, there were only 18 rhinos in the two forests. However, as per the 2022 Census, the total rhino population has gone up to 347 that includes 292 in Jaldapara and 55 in Gorumara. 

“The process of rhino shifting will be slow and steady. We have plans to shift only 2-3 to begin with and only when we are sure of the animals getting adjusted to the new habitats, we will go for further shifts,” the official added. 

Bengal has the second highest population of rhinoceros after Assam. The work for development of Patlakhawa Forest is in advanced stage and the department is hopeful that by 2024, the shifting process will start. 

Courtesy & source- Millennium Post

https://www.millenniumpost.in/bengal/3-new-habitats-for-rhinos-in-jaldapara-gorumara-and-buxa-tiger-reserve-544054