It’s not only poaching and habitat destruction which are the most pressing threats to the survival of the Greater one-horned rhinoceros, but disease and presence of a large population in an isolated habitat, Kaziranga National Park in Assam also do not bode well for their existence, wildlife experts say.
India is home to two-thirds of the world’s remaining one-horned rhinos, a vulnerable species on the IUCN red list.
After review of records from the rhino bearing Protected Areas (PAs) of Assam, a team of wildlife veterinarians said as compared to reported 217 deaths caused due to poaching, more than 600 natural deaths have been recorded during 2008-2018 (Unpublished data), meaning about 60 deaths every year which may be due to the disease and infighting.
In their study conducted in Assam’s four rhino bearing Protected Areas viz. Rajiv Gandhi Orang National Park, Pobitora Wildlife Sanctuary, Manas National Park, and Kaziranga National Park, the researchers observed that the overall prevalence of endoparasites were found to be in 58.57 per cent of the total samples collected while mixed infection rate was found to be 6.47 per cent amongst all the four areas.
A total of 309 Rhino dung samples were collected from the four PAs in Assam for this study which were analysed at the Department of Parasitology, College of Veterinary Science, Assam Agricultural University, in Guwahati, Assam.
Though the study "Prevalence of endoparastic infections in free-ranging Greater one-handed rhinoceros in the protected areas of Assam, India" was conducted just last year, results still hold important as India celebrates World Rhinoceros Day on Tuesday. Early this year itself in February, five one-horned female rhinoceroses died in Jaldapara National Park which the activists blamed on anthrax, a communicable disease that attacks herbivores.
Of the total 2,979 rhinos in the country, around 2,652 i.e. 89.35 per cent are found in Assam, with Kaziranga National Park alone with a population of 2413 individuals.
The need to initiate studies on diseases and pathogens affecting the Indian rhino is urgent as considerable number of cases on rhino deaths goes unaddressed and due to increasing livestock pressure on protected areas there is a possible threat of pathogens getting transferred from domestic animals to wild animals, said Amit Sharma, Senior Coordinator Rhino Conservation, WWF India.
Parikshit Kakati, Senior Programme Officer-Veterinary, WWF-India, chipped in saying that additionally, dearth of data in India makes it even more crucial to initiate such studies to plug the knowledge gaps in rhino diseases, and help draw up measures to address a disease outbreak.
The wildlife experts felt that as per the National Conservation Strategy for the Indian One Horned Rhinoceros launched by the Union Ministry of Environment, dedicated research on rhinos in India is very scanty, added wildlife veterinarian Debabrata Phukan.