Rescued and hand-raised at a rehabilitation centre, two rhinos were released back in Kaziranga National Park on Tuesday.
| Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
GUWAHATI
Distressed and orphaned by floods, two male rhinos returned to Kaziranga National Park and Tiger Reserve on Tuesday (January 20, 2026).
Five-year-old Chandra and four-year-old Kamal were rescued from the flooded park in August 2020 and August 2021, respectively. Both had lost their mothers by the time forest officials and conservationists reached them.
The two were provided emergency care at the Centre for Wildlife Rehabilitation and Conservation (CWRC) at Kaziranga and hand-raised.
“The primary role of CWRC involves rescuing flood-distressed and orphaned animals, caring for them in a manner that they do not develop any attachment to humans, and rehabilitating fit individuals back into the wild through protocols like pre-release enclosures,” a CWRC spokesperson said.
Officials of the national park — a UNESCO World Heritage Site with a core area of 430 sq. km — said a site selection committee was constituted after permission was obtained from Assam’s Chief Wildlife Warden under the Wildlife (Protection) Act of 1972.
Rescued and hand-raised at a rehabilitation centre, two rhinos were released back in Kaziranga National Park on Tuesday.
| Photo Credit:
Special Arrangement
The rhinos were moved to a pre-release site, where they will be habituated to living under wild conditions before their final release to roam freely in the park.
The translocation operation was overseen by a team of veterinarians headed by Bhaskar Choudhury, the CWRC in charge, and forest veterinary officer Sourabh Buragohain, along with experienced animal keepers. Others who supervised the operation included Kaziranga National Park’s field director Sonali Ghosh, divisional forest officer Arun Vignesh, wildlife experts Rathin Barman, Kaushik Barua, and Anupam Sarmah.
The CWRC was established in 2002 as a collaborative initiative among the Assam Forest Department, the Wildlife Trust of India, and the International Fund for Animal Welfare.
The centre has rescued and handled 7,397 animals across 357 species to date, with approximately 4,490 (65%) released after treatment. These include 25 hand-raised rhinos, 23 of them returned to Manas National Park and two to Kaziranga earlier.
With Tuesday’s (January 20) release, the CWRC has one rhino calf under its care.
Published – January 21, 2026 01:14 am IST
