World Rhino Day 2023

Relevance: GS3- Conservation

(Source: Down To Earth, 09/22/2023)

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Why in the News?

• World Rhino Day is celebrated on September 22 every year.
• World Rhino Day is a day of awareness for all five rhino species and the work being done to save them.
• On the occasion of World Rhino Day 2023, ‘STATE OF THE RHINO REPORT-2023’ is released by the International Rhino foundation.
• Since 2011, World Rhino Day has been celebrated internationally on September 22nd by rhino experts and advocates around the world!
• It was first announced by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) – South Africa in 2010.

Rhino Species around the world

Current Status & threats around the world

• The global population of rhinos is estimated to be a little over 26,000.
• The rhino population in India, Bhutan and Nepal is increasing and is estimated to touch 4,014.
• The population of Black rhinos, described as critically endangered, is increasing; the population is estimated at 6,195.
• However, populations of White rhinos and Sumatran rhinos are decreasing, estimated to be about 15,942 and 34 to 47.

Natural Threats

• Increased precipitation, longer monsoons and seasonal floods are already resulting in stranding, drowning or separation of calves from their mothers among Greater One-horned Rhinos
• intensified storms, increasing risks of diseases among rhinos.
• changes in weather conditions and landscape may lead to the expansion of invasive species and overtaking of rhino food plants, causing habitat degradation.
• Dry conditions due to drought increase the possibility of wildfires, causing habitat loss.

Anthropogenic Threats

• Poverty due to crop loss and reduction in livestock may result in increased cases of poaching as a means to earn income.
• poaching and and hunting
• Climate change-induced droughts have been threatening the rhino population.

Status and Conservation Efforts in India

• Out of 5 rhino species, the Greater One Horned Rhino is found in India.
• The presence of the species is restricted to small habitats in Indo-Nepal terai and northern West Bengal and Assam.
• Rhinos are now found in four Protected Areas in Assam: Pabitora Wildlife Reserve, Rajiv Gandhi Orang National Park, Kaziranga National Park, and Manas National Park.

Conservation Efforts by India

• The government of India has launched and successfully achieved the targets under Indian Rhino Vision 2020 (IRV 2020).
• The five rhino range nations (India, Bhutan, Nepal, Indonesia and Malaysia) have signed a declaration ‘The New Delhi Declaration on Asian Rhinos 2019’ for the conservation and protection of the species.
• The Ministry of Environment Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) has begun a project to create DNA profiles of all rhinos in the country.
• National Rhino Conservation Strategy: It was launched in 2019 to conserve the greater one-horned rhinoceros.
• India is a signatory to CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna). Thus, it is illegal to sell the horns in the country anyway.
• Also, the case for the destruction of horns is a process that is in compliance with Section 39(3)(c) of the Wildlife (Protection) Act of 1972.
• A proposed rhino translocation to Manas National Park, scheduled for 2024, is expected to ensure better growth opportunities and increased security and free movement of the population.
• In 2022, the Assam government sanctioned about 200 square kilometres of land to Orang National Park in north central Assam to expand the protected area by almost double.
  • The national park is connected to Burhachapori Wildlife Sanctuary in the east, and it can create link across all protected areas that house rhinos — Manas National Park, Pobitora Wildlife Sanctuary, Orang National Park, the Laokhowa and Burhachapori Wildlife Sanctuaries and Kaziranga National Park.

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MCQs

Question: With reference to the Indian Rhinoceros, consider the following statements:

1. It is listed as critically endangered on the IUCN Red List.
2. Gir National Park has the highest population of rhinos in India.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

(a) 1 only

(b) 2 only

(c) Both 1 and 2

(d) Neither 1 nor 2