The Assam Forest Department returned a baby rhino to her mother after the two became separated.

Assam forest officials and a team from the Center for Wildlife Rehabilitation and Conservation (CWRC) rescued a 45-day-old rhino calf from a trench and reunited her with her mother in Haldibari Reserve Forest .

Forest officials heard the distress calls of the mother rhino, and upon investigating, found that her tiny calf had fallen into a trench and could not climb out by herself. The mother and calf are presumed to have crossed National Highway 37 towards the Karbi Anglong hills to avoid flooded areas of Kaziranga National Park.

Veterinarian Dr. Anil Deka, who assisted with the rescue, said via The Assam Tribune that highway traffic was halted during the rescue operation.

The rhinos were perhaps grazing near Hathikuli TE, when the calf fell into the trench. We could hear the calls of the mother rhino which was hiding in the nearby woodlands and was clearly agitated. As the NH was barely 100 metres from the hiding place of the mother, the Forest Department officials stopped traffic during the operation to prevent alarming the rhinos.

The reunion of mother and calf marked an exciting achievement by the CWRC. Currently, three orphan rhino calves and two subadult rhinos whose mothers could not be found are being hand raised at the Center.

After releasing the calf near the mother’s hiding place, the reunion was confirmed when both rhinos could be heard grunting to each other.

Source: The Assam Tribune

Photo: istock.com

Rhishja Cota-Larson

I am the founder of Saving Rhinos LLC, which publishes news and information about the global rhino crisis. Besides writing Rhino Horn is Not Medicine, I am the author of the book Murder, Myths & Medicine, the Editor of Project Pangolin, and a writer for the environmental news blog Planetsave. When I'm not blogging about the illegal wildlife trade, I like to rock out to live music.

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