Great One-Horned Rhinoceros
Rhinoceros unicornis
Local Name : Great One-Horned Rhinoceros
Scientific Name : Rhinoceros unicornis
Status : Endangered
Height : 5.5 feet (1.7m)
Length : 10 feet (3.8m)
Weight : 2.2 metric ton (2,200 kg)
Introduction
Greater
one-horned
rhinoceros
(Rhinoceros
unicornis) is the largest of the three Asian rhinos. It was once found
across the entire northern part of the Indian sub-continent. The Greater
One-horned Rhinoceros populations are increasing overall due to strict
protection, especially in India. However, some populations are decreasing,
especially in Nepal and parts of northeastern India. The species is
currently confined to fewer than ten sites, with a total extent of
occurrence of less than 20,000 km. There is a continuing decline in the
quality of habitat, projected to continue into the future, which, if not
addressed, will affect the long-term survival of some of the smaller
populations, and could jeopardize the further recovery of the species. Its
populations are also severely fragmented, and with over 70% of the
population in Kaziranga National Park, a catastrophic event there could
have a devastating impact on the status of the species.
Habitat : The species inhabits the riverine grasslands of the Terai and
Brahmaputra Basins (Foose and van Strein 1997). The species prefers
these alluvial plain grasslands, but was known to occur in adjacent
swamps and forests. The populations are currently restricted to habitats
surrounded by human-dominated landscapes, so that the species often
occurs in adjacent cultivated areas, pastures, and secondary forests. The
diet includes mainly grasses, but also some fruit, leaves, shrub and tree
branches, and cultivated crops (Nowak, 1999). The species also utilizes
mineral licks regularly. Males are solitary, with unstructured, overlapping
territories.
The
females
solitary
unless
occurring
with
young.
Its life history characteristics are not well known, with longevity
estimated at about 30-45 years, gestation length of approximately 16
months (as with other rhino species), and age at sexual maturity
estimated at 5-7 years for females and 10 years for males (Nowak, 1999;
IRF website, 2006).
Food : Indian rhinoceros are grazers. Their diets consist almost entirely of
grasses, but they also eat leaves, branches of shrubs and trees, fruits, and
submerged and floating auquatic plants. They feed in the mornings and
evenings. They use their prehensile lips to grasp grass stems, bend the
stem down, bite off the top, and then eat the grass. They tackle very tall
grasses or saplings by walking over the plant, with legs on both sides and
using the weight of their bodies to push the end of the plant down to the
level of the mouth. Mothers also use this technique to make food edible for
their calves. They drink for a minute or two at a time, often imbibing water
filled with rhinoceros urine.
Cause of rareness : This species declined to near extinction in the early
1900s,
primarily
grasslands
to
due
to
agricultural
widespread
conversion
development,
which
of
led
alluvial
to
plains
human-rhino
conflicts and easier accessibility for hunters. Sport hunting became
common in the late 1800s and early 1900s. A reversal of government
policies shortly thereafter protected many of the remaining populations.
However, poaching, mainly for the use of the horn in Traditional Chinese
Medicine has remained a constant and the success is precarious without
continued and increased support for conservation efforts in India and
Nepal. Poaching has lead to decreases in several important populations,
especially those in Chitwan, Manas , Laokhowa, and the Babai Valley area
of
Bardia.
However, not all recent population decreases can be linked to poaching.
There have been serious declines in quality of habitat in some areas. This
is due to: 1) severe invasion by alien plants into grasslands affecting some
populations; 2) demonstrated reductions in the extent of grasslands and
wetland habitats due to woodland encroachment and silting up of beels;
and 3) grazing by domestic livestock. In Chitwan (the second largest
population) there is clear evidence that poaching on its own does not
account for the observed level of population decline (R.H. Emslie pers.
comm.), and there are trends in a number of reproductive indicators (i.e.,
decline in the percentage of adult females calving and in the percentage
of the population that is calves) that are strongly indicative of negative
changes in habitat quality. In Chitwan there has been severe infestation of
some riverine and grassland areas by the climbing Mikania micrantha
(which covers over indigenous vegetation), and invasion of Eupatorium in
other
areas.
There
is
also
heavy
livestock
grazing
pressure
and
disturbance in buffer zone areas as well as some invasion of grasslands by
Acacia catechu and Dalbergia sissou. It has been reported that grassland
area in Chitwan has been reduced from 20% to 4.7% of the national park
([Link].).
In India, there is not yet any evidence that invasion by alien plants has
caused any population decreases. However, in Orang National Park, there
have been marked habitat changes due to grazing, human encroachment
and silting up. In particular, short grass areas have declined by 75% due to
silting up and draining of beels (B.N. Talukdar pers. comm.). Mimosa is
also an alien invader in this area. In the Karnali floodplain area of Bardia
there is also some invasion of habitat by the alien Lantana camara.
In Pabitora there has been an invasion of Ipomoea "weeds" into grassland
areas (S. Dutta pers. comm.). There also has been an invasion of woodland
into grassland and siltation and drying up of some water bodies. There
also has been some human encroachment and very heavy livestock
grazing. With increasing human densities this pressure is unlikely to get
any less (S. Dutta pers. comm.). Analysis of satellite imagery has shown
that there has a substantial increase in woodland (34.51%) in Pabitora
since 1977 accompanied by decline in alluvial grassland (68%). This
change of habitat is mostly because of natural succession process,
livestock
grazing
management
of
from
the
the
nearby
grassland
villages
habitat
as
(Sarma
well
et
as
al.,
improper
in
press).
The West Bengal populations (Jaldapara and Gorumara) are affected by
high levels of grazing from fringe villages, and there have been weed and
climber infestations by Mikania cordata, M. scandens, Lantana camara
and
Leeaspp.
The species is inherently at risk because over 70% of its population
occurs at a single site, Kaziranga National Park. This area, is subject to
poaching and tensions with the surrounding high human population due to
human-wildlife conflicts (including conflicts with rhinos). The level of
poaching in Kaziranga has generally not been at a level to prevent the
ongoing increase in the population, but constant vigilance is required.
Clearly, any catastrophic event in Kaziranga (such as disease, civil
disorder, poaching, habitat loss, etc) would have a devastating impact on
the
status
of
this
species.
Sex-ratio among the adult rhinos in Gorumara National Park is almost 1:1.
As a result, intra-specific fights among the bulls are very common and
these animals have a tendency to stray out of the National Park very
often,
leading
to
human-wildlife
conflicts
(S.S.
Bist
pers.
comm.).
There are suggestions that the small population of rhinos in Jaldapara and
Gorumara may be prone to in-breeding depression (S.S. Bist pers. comm.).
There have been proposals to dam the Bramaphutra River in Arunachal
Pradesh, and should this happen in future this could very negatively affect
the habitat quality and rhino carrying capacity of major parks like
Kaziranga in future (by preventing or reducing the pulse of nutrients
brought in by regular large floods). In Jaldapara Sanctuary, the River Torsa
no longer overflows as a result of massive flood-control structures. As a
result the water table in the sanctuary is receding and the natural water-
bodies and wallow-pools used by rhinos are slowly drying up (S.S. Bist
pers. comm.).
Distribution of
population : Nepals rigorous National Rhino Census -
which we supported with technical and financial backing - has produced
new population figures for the greater one-horned rhinoceros ( Rhinoceros
unicornis).
The new census shows there are now 534 of these rhinos in Nepal,
which is nearly 25% of the global population of the species. Thats
an increase of 99 rhinos from the last count in 2008.
The vast majority are in Chitwan National Park - 503 rhinos there (up 95
from the 2008 figures) - plus 24 in Bardia National Park (an increase of
two from 2008) and seven in Shuklaphanta Wildlife Reserve (two more
than 2008
IUCN category : "Endangered
Conservation effort : In 1957, the country's first conservation law
insured the protection of rhinos and their habitat. In 1959, Edward
Pritchad Gee undertook a survey of the Chitwan Valley, and recommended
the creation of a protected area north of the Rapti River and of a wildlife
sanctuary south of the river for a trial period of 10 years. After his
subsequent survey of Chitwan in 1963, he recommended extension of the
sanctuary to the south. By the end of the 1960s, only 95 rhinos remained
in the Chitwan Valley. The dramatic decline of the rhino population and the
extent of poaching prompted the government to institute the Gaida Gasti
a rhino reconnaissance patrol of 130 armed men and a network of guard
posts all over Chitwan. To prevent the extinction of rhinos, the Chitwan
National Park was gazetted in December 1970, with borders delineated
the following year and established in 1973, initially encompassing an area
of 544 km2 (210 sq mi). Since 1973, the population has recovered well and
increased to 544 animals around the turn of the century. To ensure the
survival of rhinos in case of epidemics, animals were translocated
annually from Chitwan to the Bardia National Park and the Sukla Phanta
Wildlife Reserve since 1986.
Sources :
[Link]
[Link]
[Link]
s/rhino/
[Link]
[Link]
[Link]
shreyansh shrestha XE
