Assam: Hunt on for rhino calf’s mother

JORHAT: Thirty six hours have passed and the search for the three to four-day old rhino calf’s mother still continues. A ten-member joint team of forest officials and Centre for Wildlife Rehabilitation and Conservation authorities have been on it since they rescued the the rhino on Sunday.
“Despite our best efforts, the mother of the calf is still missing. Our operation is on,” divisional forest officer (Kaziranga) Ramesh Gogoi said.
He added, “It quite common among rhinos of Kaziranga that the mothers do not have strong attachments with their calves. We believe that the mother changed her habitat to some distant place after leabing the calf.”
Speaking about the condition of the baby rhino, Gogoi said, “The calf is being treated at CWRC and his condition is stable.”
Meanwhile, two more rhinos died at the Kaziranga National Park (KNP) on Monday. With this 18 rhinos have died this year. Park authorities said that forest officials found the carcasses while they were patrolling. “We found the two carcasses of rhinos at Burapahar and Kaziranga forest range. One of them was stuck the in mud. However, the horns of the rhinos are intact,” Gogoi said.
He added, “With the deluge receding in some places inside the park, it is leaving behind muddy patches. An adult rhino was found stuck in it in the Kaziranga forest range because of which it died. Veterinarians and forest staff tried their best but could not save it.”