INDIAN RHINO VISION 2020
Context
The Indian Rhino Vision 2020 (IRV2020) program has come to a close with the recent translocation of two rhinos to Manas National Park in Assam.
About Indian Rhino Vision 2020
India launched Indian Rhino Vision (IRV) 2020 programme to protect and increase the population of the one-horned rhinoceros (Rhinoceros unicornis)
This ambitious project, called the Indian Rhino Vision 2020 (IRV 2020), was launched in 2005 in response to the declining population of rhinos in Assam.
IRV 2020 is a partnership among the Government of Assam, the International Rhino Foundation, the World Wide Fund for Nature, the Bodoland Territorial Council, and the U.S. Fish & World Wildlife foundation.
Greater One-Horned Rhino
There are three species of rhino in Asia — Greater one-horned (Rhinoceros unicornis), Javan and Sumatran.
Successful conservation efforts have led to an increase in the number of Greater One-horned or Indian rhinos (around 3,700) and its IUCN status has improved from endangered to vulnerable.
In India, rhinos are mainly found in Kaziranga NP, Pobitora WLS, Orang NP, Manas NP in Assam, Jaldapara NP
and Gorumara NP in West Bengal and Dudhwa TR in Uttar Pradesh.
Recently Sumatran rhinoceros has become extinct in Malaysia, after the death of the last rhino in the country.
It is the smallest of all rhino species.
Indian Rhino Vision 2020 was an ambitious effort to attain a wild population of at least 3,000 greater one-horned rhinos spread over seven protected areas in the Indian state of Assam by the year 2020.
Seven protected areas are Kaziranga, Pobitora, Orang National Park, Manas National Park, Laokhowa wildlife sanctuary, Burachapori wildlife sanctuary and Dibru Saikhowa wildlife sanctuary.
Wild-to-wild translocations were an essential part of IRV2020 – moving rhinos from densely populated parks like Kaziranga NP, to ones in need of more rhinos, like Manas NP.