The calf, a two-month old male, was found yesterday in Panchgharia, a settlement comprising five households, near Haldibari camp in the Kohora range of Kaziranga, by the Assam Forest Department staff. The calf is believed to have been left behind by its mother during a mating attempt by a male rhino.

Dr Phulmoni Gogoi, CWRC veterinarian, visited the site, on being informed by the Forest Department officials. The calf was dehydrated; so it was stabilised with electrolyte solution.

Attempts to reunite the calf with the mother were made by the Forest Department officials assisted by Dr Gogoi. The efforts continued today as well, but had to be abandoned as the calf appeared to be weakening.

“The calf was suffering from dehydration. Its condition was worse today. It also had congestion in its eyes and had a high temperature. We had planned to stay overnight to try the reunion again, but deteriorating health condition of the calf compelled us to move it to CWRC for critical care,” said Dr Gogoi.

“If the calf recovers soon, and if the mother is located, reunion will be tried again. We have directed the locals to call us, if they hear or see signs of the mother.”

Unfortunately, similar attempts in the past, to reunite rhino calves separated from their mothers have not been successful. However, the case is different with elephant calves. A number of elephant calves separated from their natal herds have been successfully reunited in Kaziranga.

Dr Ashraf, Director, Wild Rescue programme, WTI, said, “This is a sad yet interesting observation. Ideally, reunion of separated rhino calves with their mothers should have been easier. Rhinos, unlike elephants, have a limited home range and hence the mothers can be more easily tracked. This needs to be studied. Till then, we just keep trying to break this ‘jinx’ soon, preferably with this calf.”

This is the third rhino calf to be admitted to CWRC in 2009. With this, the total number of rhino calves currently being hand-raised at CWRC has reached four.