29 Oct 2024        13:50:57 pm

Environmental Ecology

One-horned Rhinoceros

Tags : One-horned Rhinoceros

Topic: Biodiversity

Why in the news?

• The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi has reiterated the commitment towards rhino protection on occasion of World Rhino Day on September 22. He also urged citizens to visit Kaziranga National Park in Assam, home to a large number of one horned rhinos in India.

Source: The Hindu 

About One-horned Rhinoceros:

• It is the largest of the rhino species.
• It is identified by a single black horn and a grey-brown hide with skin folds.
• It is one of the five species of Rhinos.
• The other four species are:
  • White rhino: It is native to northern and southern Africa
  • Black rhino: It is native to eastern and southern Africa
  • Javan rhino: It is also known as Sunda rhino or lesser one-horned rhino
  • Sumatran rhino: Critically Endangered species of rhino
• It is a grazer. When not grazing on land, it likes to immerse itself in water, where it grazes on aquatic plants.
• This species of rhino is commonly found in Nepal, Bhutan, Pakistan and in Assam, India.
• Protection Status:
• IUCN Red List: Vulnerable
• CITES: Appendix I
• Wildlife Protection Act, 1972: Schedule I

Kaziranga National Park:

• It is located in the Golaghat and Nagaon districts of Assam.
• It was declared a national park in 1974.
• It is also a UNESCO World Heritage Site and houses two-thirds of the total world population of greater one-horned rhinoceros.
• It is the largest undisturbed area in the Brahmaputra Valley floodplains.
• It is a mix of eastern wet alluvial grasslands, semi evergreen forests and tropical moist deciduous forests.
• Flora:
  • It is famous for its dense and tall elephant grasses intermixed with small swamplands.
  • It also includes an abundant cover of water lilies, water hyacinths and lotus.
  • Rattan Cane, a type of climbing palm, is also found here.
• Fauna:
  • Important wildlife found are One-horned rhinoceros, Leopard, Fishing Cat, other Lesser cats, royal Bengal tiger, Large Indian Civet, Small Indian Civet, Sambar, Barking deer, Hog deer, Gaur, Hog Badger, Capped Langur, etc.
  • It is also one of the last remaining homes of the endangered and endemic western hoolock gibbon, the only species of apes found in India. 
  • It is home to approximately 478 species of both resident and migratory birds.
  • It is one of the last homes of the critically endangered Bengal florican

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