Three rhino calves – two females and a male- that were rescued during the 2019 floods are but a step away from going back to the wild in Manas Tiger Reserve.

Rescued by the Assam Forest Department and the IFAW- WTI vets from Centre for Wildlife Rehabilitation and Conservation (CWRC) at Kaziranga, these rhino calves have undergone a protocol of rehabilitation for two years before they were translocated to Manas Tiger Reserve today following the IFAW- WTI commitment of “Bringing Back Manas”.

Two females were rescued from Hatimura (Biswanath- North Bank) and Kuthuri area whereas the male was rescued from Solmara during the Kaziranga floods that hit Kaziranga in July-August 2019. All three had undergone health check-ups and marking before they were loaded in individual crates for the translocation by the expert team of IFAW-WTI veterinarians led by Head vet Dr. Bhaskar Choudhury, with Dr. Samshul Ali, Manager CWRC and Dr. Daoharu Baro, In- charge MVS -Western Assam.

The convoy from CWRC will travel through 400km overnight and reach Manas Tiger Reserve (MTR) approximately early morning. 10th April 2021 is the date scheduled for the release of the animals in their dedicated boma, where they will be kept for a stipulated period for habituation before they finally go free.

The release of flood-rescued and rehabilitated rhinos into Manas Tiger Reserve is a part of the long-term project of IFAW-WTI with Assam Forest Department (AFD) and Bodoland Territorial Region (BTR), where the translocated rhinos and their progeny together account for 19 of the 44 rhinos in Manas Tiger Reserve.