Dudhwa gets 2 newborn one-horned Rhino calves

Lucknow: The birth of two rhino calves at Dudhwa National Park has sparked the hope of a new bloodline of one-horned rhinos in Uttar Pradesh after more than three decades.

Napolean, a free-ranging rhino, is the father of the two calves born to Kalpana and Rohini. While Kalpana and Rohini are part of Dudhwa’s existing herd of rhinos, Napolean is said to have strayed from Nepal and stayed back in Dudhwa. It was translocated to the second Rhino Rehabilitation Area (RRA) in Bilrayen range of the park in April 2018 along with three females — Kalpana, Rohini and Subhadra.

Napolean is a new blood because, unlike other rhinos, he was born outside Dudhwa. Most among the current population of rhinos in Dudhwa are the offsprings of a single dominant rhino, Banke. The newborn calves are currently staying with their mothers and the park administration is ensuring their security as tigers can attack young rhinos. “There are chances of predation. Though the rhinos are under a fenced area, the fence mostly works as a deterrent for rhinos but not for other big animals like tigers or elephants,” said Dudhwa Park director Sanjay Pathak. Calves are counted in the population only after they grow more than a year old.

The one-horned rhino, the only rhino species found in India and also known as Indian rhino, is critically endangered and protected under Schedule (I) of the Indian Wildlife (Protection) Act.

Dudhwa National Park was chosen by the Union government for Rhino Rehabilitation Programme (RRP) in 1984. Started with half a dozen rhinos, the number has now increased to 42 in the state. Only Napolean is an outsider in the lot.

The rhinos were re-introduced in Dudhwa within a 27 sq km fenced area in Sonaripur range. Banke, who was brought in 1984, was the most dominant male in the herd. The rhino patriarch, who died in 2016 at the age of 49, was the father to most of the current population of rhinos in Dudhwa. Nakul, Sahdev and Bhimsen were other males who fought for dominance after Banke became reclusive. Raghu is the most dominant male in the pack in the first RRA.