 Reference Base  The greater one-horned rhino of Assam is threatened by po... |
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| Location: |
Asia - South Asia - India |
| Subject: |
Distribution - Status |
| Species: |
Indian Rhino |
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In 1990, Manas had 85 to 100 rhinos (see Table 8), although it could sustain 200 to 300, according to S.C. Dey, Director of Wildlife Preservation for the Government of India (pers. comm.). About two-thirds of the Park is ideal habitat for the species (Deb Roy, 1991). However, R.N, Hazarika, Chief Conservator of Forests (Wildlife) for Assam, fears rhino numbers could have halved since the 1990 estimate due to a great increase in poaching (pers. comm.). Officially, for 1993 the number of rhinos remaining is 60, a figure which is not obtained from a census but is an estimate by the Park Director, P. Lahan. Personnel from a WWF project in Bhutan's Manas Park (where no rhinos are resident) have noticed that rhinos crossing over at night into Bhutan for grasses and minerals (and returning to the Indian side in the morning) have declined in number sharply from early 1992 to late 1993 (pers. comm.). No rhino carcasses have been found in Bhutan, however, although Indians do come across to poach deer and take timber illegally.
Table 8: Number of rhinos in Manas National Park.
Year Number Source
1966 15 Estimate by Gee and quoted by Spillett (1966)
1976 40 Estimate by A. Laurie (1978)
1986 75-80 Estimate by Assam Forest Dept.
1989 85 Estimate by Assam Forest Dept.
1990 85-100 Estimate by Assam Forest Dept.
1992 80 Estimate by Assam Forest Dept.
1993 60 Estimate by Lahan, Director of Manas Park
End
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