Early this month, flash floods in north Bengal swept away at least a dozen rhinos from Jaldapara National Park, some as far as 30km away. A massive operation over three weeks has managed to bring home 11 rhinos
For more than three weeks, it has been a relentless fight between man and nature. Ever since the heavens broke upon north Bengal on the night of October 4, triggering flash floods that washed away home and hearth, the focus has rightly been on the massive operation to rescue and rehabilitate residents. But a parallel operation has also been under way, the largest of its kind in India in recent memory: The mission to rescue and rehabilitate the greater one-horned rhino.
The operation to save north Bengal’s rhinos has so far managed to rescue 11 of them — all residents of Jaldapara National Park, which boasts India’s second-largest rhino population (330+), after Assam’s Kaziranga. Most of the animals got swept away by strong currents and were stranded in Alipurduar’s forest ranges or in human-heavy landscapes of Cooch Behar, more than 25km from the national park.
The operation to save north Bengal’s rhinos has so far managed to rescue 11 of them — all residents of Jaldapara National Park, which boasts India’s second-largest rhino population (330+), after Assam’s Kaziranga. Most of the animals got swept away by strong currents and were stranded in Alipurduar’s forest ranges or in human-heavy landscapes of Cooch Behar, more than 25km from the national park.