World Rhino Day:
Why is it in News?
- Cricketer Kevin Pietersen is working in collaboration with National Geographic on ‘Save This Rhino: India’.
Details:
- Indian Rhino:
(1) These are one-horned rhinoceros.
(2) It is listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List.
(3) Their upper legs and shoulders are covered in wart-like bumps.
(4) They have very little body hair, aside from eyelashes, ear fringes and tail brush.
(5) The Indian rhino's single horn is present in both males and females, but not on newborn calves.
(6) The horn is pure keratin, like human fingernails, and starts to show after about six years.
(7) Among terrestrial land mammals native to Asia, Indian rhinos are second in size only to the Asian elephant.
(8) They are also the second-largest living rhinoceros, behind only the white rhinoceros.
(9) The rich presence of blood vessels underneath the tissues in folds gives them the pinkish colour
- Indian Rhino Vision 2020 (IRV 2020):
(1) It is a joint programme of the Department of Environment & Forests, Govt of Assam, WWF India, the International Rhino Foundation and the US fish & wildlife service.
(2) Six rhinos were translocated from Pobitora and re-introduced into the Manas National Park between December 2010 and January 2011 under this vision.
(3) Earlier, under the same programme, two rhinos were translocated from Pobitora to Manas National Park in 2008.
Indian Rhino Vision 2020 (IRV 2020):