Greater one-horned rhino – CC 4.0. Nejib Ahmed

Since 2016, poaching of one-horned rhinoceroses in India’s Assam state has fallen 86% after a change in government brought determined action to protect them

By expanding protected areas and bolstering ranger patrols, the steady growth in the number of rhinos, seen since the late 60s, has now accelerated to the point where 3,000 horns grace the Assam savannah.

“Rhinos are synonymous with the identity of Assam. They are our pride and the crown jewel of our biodiversity. Ever since we assumed office, we have taken various initiatives to protect the prized species, expand its habitat and ensure its safety,” Assam state’s Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma wrote on X.

In India, the Chief Minister, often abbreviated CM, is the equivalent on an American governor, and the state of Assam which Sarma governs is India’s rhino stronghold, with 88% of all the rhinos in the country located in Kaziranga, Manas, and Orang national parks, and Pobitora Wildlife Sanctuary.

The remaining 12% is spread widely across the country. CM Sarma’s tenure which began in 2021 oversaw the addition of nearly 50,000 acres of habitat in Orang National Park, and another 50,000 to two other protected areas.

Last year, GNN reported that for the first time since 1977, zero rhinos were poached in the country.

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Sarma ordered the rhinos treated like presidents, with sophisticated police commando teams patrolling the parks with night vision equipment and drones during moonlit nights.

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Since then, the population of Assam’s rhinos has grown by 105 to 3,000; up from a low of 600 during the 1960s. The government released these poaching figures on World Rhino Day (Sept. 22nd) to show that if the will to protect these beasts is there, the most poached megafauna species on Earth can thrive.

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