Guwahati: More than a week after an endangered one-horned rhino strayed out of Pabitora wildlife sanctuary and took shelter in a waterbody, a 17-member expert team under the Chief Conservator of Forest Suresh Narayan on Saturday said its health was fine and it will be airlifted soon.
“This will be the first time in the history of wildlife conservation in India that a rhino is planned to be airlifted by an IAF chopper but we should monitor its condition and ensure it does not get panicky,” Principal Chief Conservator of Forest (PCCF) Suresh Chand told PTI.
The rhino from the Pabitora wildlife sanctuary “had strayed out of the Park on September 29 and was washed away in flood water as it reached the Rani Chapori beel (waterbody) but now the animal is doing fine”, he said.
“The animal is under stress as it has been swept through the current of the river Brahmaputra but now it has had food and health is satisfactory”, Chand said.
He said they will not rush through the process of translocating it.
“As soon as the rhino shows signs of total improvement we will translift it to either Pabitora or Manas,” Chand said. (PTI)