Context
- Too many cattle are robbing the one-horned rhinos of Assam’s Pobitora Wildlife Sanctuary, referred to as ‘Mini Kaziranga’ for similar features, of their nutritious food.
- One of the factors behind the crisis of nutritional grass in Pobitora is the competition from some 10,000 cattle that graze on the fringes of the sanctuary measuring 38.81 sq km on paper but with only 16 sq km for an estimated 102 rhinos to inhabit.
Back to Basics
About Pobitora Wildlife Sanctuary
- It is located on the southern bank of the Brahmaputra in Morigaon district in Assam.
- It was declared in 1987 and covers 38.85 km2 (15.00 sq mi), providing grassland and wetland habitat for the Indian rhinoceros.
- It provides a habitat and food resource for the Indian rhinoceros, hosting Assam’s second-largest population.
- Other mammals occurring in the sanctuary are golden jackal, wild boar and feral water buffalo.
- Barking deer, Indian leopard and rhesus macaque live foremost in the hilly parts. It is an Important Bird Area and home for more than 2000 migratory birds and various reptiles.
About Kaziranga
- A national park in the Golaghat, Karbi Anglong and Nagaon districts of the state of Assam.
- Hosts two-thirds of the world’s great one-horned rhinoceroses, is a World Heritage Site.
- Home to the highest density of tigers among protected areas in the world and was declared a Tiger Reserve in 2006 (now the highest tiger density is in Orang National Park, Assam).
- Home to large breeding populations of elephants, wild water buffalo, and swamp deer.
- An Important Bird Area by BirdLife International for the conservation of avifaunal species.
Source: TH
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