Manas National Park, Assam, November 16, 2017:  The first calf born to Ganga, one of the rhinos rehabilitated into Manas National Park under IFAW-WTI and the Assam Forest Department’s Greater Manas Recovery Project, was sighted with her own firstborn, a male, at 8.30am today.

Ganga was rescued in Kaziranga in 2004 and hand-raised at the Centre for Wildlife Rehabilitation and Conservation (#CWRC) — IFAW-WTI and the Assam Forest Department’s wildlife rescue, treatment and rehabilitation facility near Kaziranga — before being translocated to Manas in 2007. She delivered her first calf in the wild in April 2013 and another calf in June 2015.

“The fact that the second generation of calves is breeding is a clear indication of the success of our rhino rehabilitation efforts.”

This first calf, aged 4 years and 7 months as of today, has now delivered her first calf. This brings the total rhino population in Manas to 32, of which 13 are from the rehabilitation project. (Jamuna, another rehabilitated rhino, had given birth to her second calf on September 3.)

“The birth of this calf is a significant milestone in our collective efforts to restore Manas to its former glory”, said Dr Bhaskar Choudhury, WTI’s Head Veterinarian (North East), who heads the Greater Manas Recovery Project. “The fact that the second generation of calves is breeding is a clear indication of the success of our rhino rehabilitation efforts. It is a matter of great pride for IFAW-WTI, the Assam Forest Department and the Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC).”

“I’m extremely pleased to receive this news”, said HK Sarma, IFS, Field Director, Manas National Park. “My congratulations to IFAW-WTI, BTC and other stakeholders on this happy occasion.”