One-horned Rhino at Kaziranga national Park | File image
Rhino census will be conducted soon at the Kaziranga National Park in Assam.
The census is likely to be held on March 25, 26 and 27, however these are not the fixed dates.
In regard to this, a meeting was held by the high officials of the forest department and research officers at the Mihimiri hall in Kaziranga’s Kohora.
As per authorities of the national park, though temporary dates have been fixed for the census in March, the permanent dates for the census will be fixed only after verification from officials of the forest department of Assam and the director of the park.
As per the data released by the Assam Forest Department in 2018, the national park had 1,641 rhinos, of which 793 are females, 642 are males and 206 rhinos’ gender could not be ascertained.
The forest department officials however hope for an increase in the rhino population in this year’s census.
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On the other hand, ‘controlled burning’ in the national park is mandatory for better visibility of rhinos for an accurate census. Controlled burning is being carried out at Kohora, Bagori, Agortoli and Burhapahar areas.
Research official of the Kaziranga, Rabindra Sharma said, “Though controlled burning fire has been started in most of the forest areas in the national park, various types of grasslands and wetlands are not burning properly. This is because the grass is still fresh and moist and adequate wind is also not blowing.”
It may be mentioned that ‘controlled burning’, which involves setting planned fires to maintain the health of the forest, was started at the Kaziranga National Park in the year 1950.
At the onset, controlled burning was practiced at Bagori initially, but gradually the process was continued in all the grasslands of the park.
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