After 27 year wait, rhino rehabilitation finally happens in Dudhwa

 
After waiting for 27 long years, India has finally got a sedating drug, and used it to rehabilitate four single-horned rhinos, paving the way for conservation of one of the most endangered species, found only in India and Nepal.

On Friday, in a historic conservation effort, foresters at Dudhwa National Park, Uttar Pradesh, successfully rehabilitated the rhinos for the second time here.

Officials, with the help of volunteers of WWF and Wildlife Trust of India (WTI), rehabilitated three female and one male rhino in a 13.5 sq km enclosed area of in the forest's Belraya Range, some 15 km from the present 24 sq km Sonaripur Range enclosure, where 34 adult rhinos thrive.

The rehabilitation programme was stuck since 1991, due to want of a sedating drug which is banned in India. The key drug -- M99 -- is used to immobilise large animals like rhinos.

"It was a very long wait, but we had to take some bold decisions as to ensure it was not delayed any more. This is historic event and key to conservation of Indian rhinos," Dudhwa National Park Director Sunil Choudhary told IANS on the phone.

The drug was important because rhinos, as a routine, are not tranquilised since they cannot be left in that state for longer than 60 minutes, Chaudhary added.

"We finally got the drug. We imported it from South Africa earlier this year and had been gearing up for this days since then," Mahaveer Kaujalagi, Deputy Director, Dudhwa National Park told IANS on the phone.

He added that the male rhino, aged around 10, and the three females aged 9 to 13 were carefully selected and have good breeding potential.

For monitoring purposes, an elephant squad consisting two elephants and seven to eight volunteers has been permanently stationed in the new enclosure has been ringed by solar-powered fencing, an official said.

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