West Bengal and Assam are home to one-horned rhinoceros in India.
Listed as vulnerable in the IUCN list, the Indian rhino or great Indian rhinoceros is found in the entire Indo-Gangetic Plain.
Assam houses 85% of the global population of rhinoceros, and 70% of the rhino population is in Kaziranga National Park, Assam. It is the state animal of Assam. Kaziranga Park is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
The highest density of Rhino population is in Pobitora wildlife Sanctuary in Assam. Apart from India, they are also found in Pakistan, Bhutan, and Nepal.
Earlier distributed through the marshy plains of the Ganges and Brahmaputra, they have now become confined to the alluvial plains of Assam, West Bengal, and parts of Nepal.
Loss of alluvial tracts, climate changes, and poaching has resulted in the declining rhino population. Another challenge to one-horned rhinos is the disastrous floods during monsoon, getting them washed away or starving to death.
Indian Rhino Vision 2020 was launched in 2005 to achieve a population of 3000 one-horned rhinoceros in the state of Assam in over 7 protected areas.
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