Manas: This December, Manas Wildlife Sanctuary in lower Assam will celebrate its centenary year with a host of activities both for the foreign as well as domestic tourists to experience wildlife in its habitats of a World Heritage Site. The celebrations are scheduled to start from 12 December, which would continue for three days. Park officials were hopeful that at least 1000 visitors are expected to arrive during the centenary. 

As part of the celebrations, the forest department has unveiled a number of projects in the coming years to revive the fading glory of Manas. One of the initiatives is to reintroduce the rhinos in the sanctuary, which had been one of the prime attractions in the park. In addition to this, better civic amenities, such as transportation, communication, infrastructure, lodging facilities etc for the visitors would be set up in the coming years, to reinstate the sanctuary to its position of a favored tourism destination in the country.

Manas is home to more than 20 globally threatened species. Until a decade ago, hundreds of elephants, tigers, rhinos, bisons, leopards, different species of deer and wild cats were seen in the park. Prolonged disturbances in the region have affected the wildlife and habitats. Rampant poaching of wild animals has affected the population. Compounding these problems is inadequate manpower, financial and technical resources to tackle the multifarious problems of the park. Today, many of these species are on the verge of extinction.

However, with active support from the local communities, the park officials were hopeful that the situation would change and wildlife would return to the sanctuary. According to Rathin Burman, Manager, Wildlife Trust of India (WTI), who supervises the rhino rehabilitation station in Manas, there are about 60 villages in the periphery of the sanctuary and their support will be crucial for wildlife conservation. He said that his interactions with the villagers had been very positive and their cooperation would further enhance the conservation efforts of the state government.

The state government endeavors to increase the rhino population in the state to 3000 by the year 2020. Mounting problems due to recurrent floods and man-animal conflicts in Kaziranga and Pobitora, the other two rhino habitats in Assam has prompted the officials to relocate these endangeredspecies to safer locations. Manas is considered to be safe from floods.

According to Dr. Ashraf, Director Wild Rescue WTI, “An expert group comprising members of the forest department and WTI had unanimously decided Manas as an alternate release site of the rhinos.” WTI is the first in the conservation sector to participate in the rhino reintroduction programme of Manas in collaboration with the Assam forest department.

According to Burman, for the first time, a rhino from the Centre for Wildlife Rehabilitation and Conservation (CWRC) in Kaziranga would be transported to Manas in December. The rhino would be kept in a pre-release enclosure of the park before being released in the wild. He said that the animal would be released only when a favorable atmosphere in terms of its security and sufficient foraging ground is established.

In addition to rhino rehabilitation, a mobile veterinary service for wild animals was recently put into service in Manas to help the distressed animals of the park.

With the much-needed help and support from all concerned at a crucial time, the prospects of the park are definitely looking up for the better. Conservationists from across the world today are hopeful that the magnificent wildlife of Manas survives the onslaught of human civilization and retains its glory for the next hundred years in one of the most admired World Heritage Site.

Pix credit: Dr.Murali Pai/WTI