Back From the Brink: The Rhinos of Jaldapara

A large, grey animal foraged near our forest rest house. It lumbered through thick vegetation, swishing its short tail from side to side, leading my driver Krishna Pal to remark, “Bahar koi janwar hai (there is some animal outside).” I was amazed to see the second-largest land mammal in Asia nonchalantly grazing only 100 metres from where I stood. The caretaker of the rest house Chandrakanto Roy, likened it to a stray cow that had ventured on his property, “Yeh yahaan par aata rehta hai (this one keeps coming here).” I immediately knew that I was going to see many more animals over the following days.

The greater one-horned rhino (Rhinoceros unicornis) is the star attraction of Jaldapara National Park in Alipurduar district of northern West Bengal. The 216-sq-km park is the second-largest natural habitat in India for these pachyderms, after Kaziranga National Park in Assam. A 2022 census counted 292 rhinos, a far cry from only 14 in 1985.

The increase in rhino numbers resulted from the forest department’s conservation measures over the years. A critical intervention was beefing up the protection infrastructure to deal with the scourge of poaching. The patrolling forest staff were provided with more firearms, walkie-talkies, vehicles, and elephants. Extensive road networks, fire lines, patrolling paths, watchtowers, and patrolling camps were constructed. Additionally, the habitat was made more suitable for rhinos by creating fodder plantations, building salt licks and wallow pools, eradicating weeds, and preventing trees from invading grasslands. More forest areas were included in the sanctuary, and villagers living on the fringes were provided employment opportunities.

Debal Ray, Chief Wildlife Warden of West Bengal, attributed the rise in population to the professional management and protection of the park. “The increase in the number of rhinos is very inspiring, a feat accomplished by the sheer determination of the forest department. We have brought those living around the park’s fringes under the fold of our joint forest management programme and made them our partners. The constant threat of poaching has largely been reduced by constant patrolling on elephant-back and anti-poaching towers. The park’s success today is due to the ground staff who have really worked hard,” said Ray.

A family of tourists from Bengal, with whom I was sharing a safari vehicle, murmured “gondor, gondor” in excitement. They were not referring to Gondor, the fictional kingdom in J R R Tolkien’s writings, as I momentarily thought, but instead towards a rhino grazing in the distance. I learnt later that gondar is Bengali for rhino and “gondar er chamra” refers to a thick-skinned person. The phrase’s etymology arises from the rhino’s skin folds, which can be up to four centimetres thick, lending the animal an armour-plated appearance.

The adult male cocked its hare-like ears as we stopped to admire it. Rhinos have poor eyesight, which they make up for with their excellent sense of hearing and smell. The rhino looked in our direction briefly and then resumed grazing.

We saw the massive frame of another rhino hiding behind a clump of grass further ahead. Grasses locally known as baro chepti (Themeda arundinacea), dhadda (Saccharum narenga) and purundi (Alpinia nigra) are among the grasses these herbivores of Jaldapara favour. The rhinos have greatly benefited from the forest department’s effective management of their grassland habitat. “We plant grass fodder every year. The plantation begins around the onset of the monsoon. Energised fences are placed around the plantations to safeguard the shoots from herbivores such as rhinos, elephants and gaur. The fences are removed by September or October when the grasses have grown considerably. Rhinos rely on purundi during the lean season in winter when the other grasses dry up. Despite being from the grass family, it has large green leaves, which they feed on,” said Debdarshan Roy, Assistant Wildlife Warden, Jaldapara National Park.

Unlike jeep safaris, elephant-back safaris let tourists get up and close to rhinos, who remain unperturbed by the presence of the larger mammals. The following day, while on elephant-back, we saw a rhino wallowing in a pool of water. By lying submerged in the natural and artificial water holes spread across the park, these ungulates avoid flies and keep cool during the hottest parts of the day.

Rhinos are primarily solitary animals, although I frequently spot pairs, mothers with their calves and on one occasion, a crash of five rhinos trotting in a line. “The increase in numbers has made it easier for tourists to spot rhinos,” explained Ray.

While the overall density of rhinos in the park is 1.71/sq km, the animals are not uniformly distributed across all ranges. “The east range of the park has the maximum concentration of rhinos, followed by the west range, the north range, the Chilapata range, and then the Kodalbasti range. Almost half the park’s rhinos reside in the east range. Most rhino sightings occur along the route to JP tower in the east range,” said Roy.

Male rhinos have loosely defined territories, which are not well defended and often overlap. Territorial clashes between individuals are the leading cause of rhino mortality in Jaldapara. “Territorial clashes between rhinos are quite normal. And as their numbers increase in the park and reach saturation point, such clashes are likely to become more frequent,” Roy said.

Up to the early 20th century, rhinos could move freely between the forests of the western (Jalpaiguri and Cooch Behar districts, West Bengal) and eastern Dooars (Assam). However, fragmentation of their habitat over the years has isolated their populations, restricting gene flow. Today, there is no record of rhino movement between Jaldapara and Gorumara, the only other protected area in West Bengal harbouring a rhino population.

Realising the need to create more space for these giants, the forest department is working towards creating suitable habitats for them. “As the number of rhinos increases, we have added new areas to the park. The Chilapata area, earlier not part of the park, was added. We are also trying to increase accessibility to the Lankapara area, so more animals go there. Efforts are also ongoing to create a suitable habitat in the Patlakhawa area, but we are unsure if rhinos like that habitat and are undecided whether relocating them there will be good for them,” said Ray.

I lost count of the number of rhinos I saw over four days and understood why Chandrakanto likened them to cattle. Their presence is ubiquitous in Jaldapara. Every day, as I returned to the rest house, the caretaker would inform me that the visitor had asked for me. And each day, I replied in jest that the park’s celebrated residents had enquired about him too.