Assam’s quest for rhino conservation

To mark World Rhino Day, the Assam government on Wednesday destroyed nearly 2,500 horns of the one-horned rhinoceros, elephant tusks, and other body parts of other wild animals. The destruction of horns and other animal parts complies with the Wildlife (Protection) Act of 1972, and a later Supreme Court order. While Assam had disposed of horns recovered before 1979, those collected later were at the forest department’s district treasuries after they were recovered from poachers or collected from dead rhinos. In India, one-horned rhinos were declared endangered in 1975, but downgraded to “vulnerable” in 2008. Assam has the largest population of one-horn rhino in the world, numbering about 2,600.

Despite the international ban on rhino horn trade since 1977, extensive illegal trade persists through Asia because it is used as an ingredient in traditional medicine in China and some South Asian countries. However, there is no scientific proof of its medical value. Last month, the Assam government said that poachers have killed 22 one-horned rhinos in the state since 2017 and that till June 2021, 644 poachers have been arrested for the crime. In April, Assam successfully increased its rhino population to 3,000 as targeted under Indian Rhino Vision 2020.

In the face of the poaching challenge, the Assam government’s decision to publicly burn horns sends out a strong message that the body part has no commercial and medicinal value, and that India values its wildlife heritage. However, along with strengthening monitoring and law enforcement systems and tackling wildlife trade, Assam needs to restore the quality of rhino habitat and ensure rhino population density and genetic diversity.