The officials of UNESCO heritage site Kaziranga National Park (KNP) on Monday started the two-day-long rhino census, which is being held after a gap three years.
As the national park is in news due to the incessant killing of rhinos in recent years this census is considered as an utmost importance to know the actual figure of rhinos in the park.
“For the purpose of the census the entire park has been divided into 74 compartments out of which census in 36 compartments have been completed today and the rest will be done by tomorrow. A total of 150 people including support staff members are being engaged in the exercise which is being carried out in all the additions of the park,” said Divisional Forest Officer of Kaziranga National Park, Rohini Ballav Saikia.
Saikia informed that this year they are focusing on extensive use of GPS to find out which tracks are frequently used by rhinos for their movement. The result of this year census will be out by Tuesday evening or on Wednesday morning.
Covering an area of 42,996 hectare, KNP is inhabited by the world’s largest population of one-horned rhinoceroses and is regarded as one of the finest wildlife refuges in the world.
The census is conducted in KNP at an interval of every three years and the last census of rhino in KNP was conducted in the year 2015 and counted 2,401 rhinos.