New Delhi, March 24 Four greater one-horned rhinos were released from a rehabilitation area into a suitable grassland habitat at the Dudhwa Tiger Reserve in Uttar Pradesh during a relocation exercise conducted on Monday and Tuesday.
With this, the total number of rhinos in the wild at the Dudhwa reserve has increased to eight.
In a statement, Dr H Rajamohan, field director at the reserve, said, "The successful relocation of rhinos at Dudhwa Tiger Reserve is a giant leap for rhino conservation. After decades of hard work, the efforts to bring back rhinos to India's Terai landscape have finally begun to bear fruit."
The four rhinos that were released included one male and three females aged between 15 and 25 years.
The exercise was carried out by the Uttar Pradesh forest department with support from World Wide Fund for Nature-India (WWF-India), senior veterinarians, rhino experts, and field workers.
The first two translocations took place in November 2024 and March 2025, when the state forest department released four rhinos from the rehabilitation area of the Dudhwa Tiger Reserve.
The forest department, in collaboration with WWF-India and other experts, has been monitoring their behaviour and health, and early findings indicate their suitable adaptation to the area.
In a statement, Dr Dipankar Ghose of WWF-India said, "A viable population of free-ranging rhinos benefits the larger Terai Arc Landscape, which is one of the most productive landscapes in the country. Rhinos are one of the best indicators of grassland ecosystems. They are often called ecological engineers, as by continuous grazing, they prevent tall and unpalatable grasses from dominating."
