Kate & William's Visit To Kaziranga May Just Bring Conservation Of The One-Horned Rhino Into The Spotlight

Home to the one horned rhinoceros, the UNESCO World Heritage Site, Kaziranga National Park in Assam, rolled out the red carpet to welcome the Royal couple who arrived in Tezpur on April 12.

The Wildlife Reserve

On June 1, 1905, Kaziranga Proposed Reserve Forest was created with an area of 232 sq kms. Over the next three years, the Park was extended by 152 sq kms, to the banks of the Brahmaputra river and was finally designated a ¡°Reserve Forest¡± in 1908.

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The history of the forest can be traced back to 1904 when Mary Curzon, the wife of the Viceroy of India, Lord Curzon, could not spot a single rhino on her trip to the reserve. It was then she persuaded her husband to take urgent measures to protect the dwindling species.

In 1916, it was re-designated the "Kaziranga Game Sanctuary" and in 1950 it was named as the "Kaziranga Wildlife Sanctuary" in order to prevent hunting in the forest. In 1968, the Park was designated as a National Park and was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO for its unique natural environment.

While the one horned rhinos proliferate inside the forest ¨C two-third of world's great one-horned Indian rhinos are seen here, other rare species like the Eastern Swamp Deer, popularly known as Barasingha are currently found only in Kaziranga.

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Rhino on the brink

Poaching has been a major concern for the authorities with the one horned Rhino being hunted for its skin as well as the horn. This has led to a dwindling in the rhino population in the reserve. Between 1980 and 2005, 567 rhinoceroses were hunted by poachers. Because of the conservation efforts and passing of various laws for protection of wildlife in the park, like the Assam Forest Regulation of 1891 and the Biodiversity Conservation Act of 2002, the number of rhinos being poached has been on a decline. Nevertheless, 18 one-horned rhinoceroses were killed by poachers in 2007.

Preventive measures such as construction of anti-poaching camps and maintenance of existing ones, patrolling, intelligence gathering, and control over the use of firearms around the park have reduced the number of casualties. Since 2013, the park has been using cameras on drones for monitoring by security guards to protect the rhino from armed poachers.

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Royals come to visit

The royal couple was ferried to Diphlu River Lodge, nestled on the banks of the river flowing adjacent to the Kaziranga National Park for their two-night stay. Since the day coincides with Bohang Bihu, the celebration of Assamese New Year, the couple attended a programme on ethnic cultural traditions presented by local artistes in their honour, around a campfire at the Lodge, the previous night.

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Getting up close and personal with nature, the Royal couple will undertake a Jeep safari in the western range of Bagori. During their two hours inside the Kaziranga National Park, the Royal couple, accompanied by senior officers from the State Forest department and Kaziranga forest authority, will interact with the frontline forest staff guarding the national park about the population of fauna inside Kaziranga and the one-horned Indian rhino. The Rhino is a Schedule 1 wild animal under the Indian Wildlife Protection Act 1972. Forest officers will also brief the couple about the management of Kaziranga.

Putting the cause of saving the rhinos on a global map, the Duke will use this visit to speak out against the lies and violence that threaten this valuable species and how the park protects its animals especially when demand for rhino horns is on the rise, which will help benefit the cause.

After their lunch, the Royal couple will move to the Centre for Wildlife Rehabilitation and Conservation (CWRC), under the Wildlife Trust of India, at Borjuri near the national park which provides emergency care and rehabilitation to wild animals who have been injured, displaced or orphaned. They will also visit the health clinic for elephants and an elephant information centre, which is under construction.

The Duke and Duchess will put finishing touches on an elephant sculpture to officially mark the "call for artists" for India's elephant parade, which will see 200 elephants decorated by artists and placed in 200 locations across India by the charity. These parades have previously been staged in London, Edinburgh and New York.

Kaziranga Discovery Centre built by Elephant Family, a charity founded by late Mark Shand, brother of the Duchess of Cornwall, would be the next stop for the Royal couple.