Rhinos seen in Assam reserve forest cleared of encroachers: Assam CM Himanta
The Hindu
Some 500 families, mostly Bengali-speaking Muslims, were evicted from a part of the Pabho Reserve Forest on January 10 and 11
Rhinos have been spotted in a part of a reserve forest from where squatters were evicted a few days ago, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said.
Taking to Twitter and other social media platforms, he said three rhinos were seen in the Pabho Reserve Forest in northeastern Assam’s Lakhimpur district days after an eviction drive.
“The gentle giant returning to Pabho RF is a wonderful news for all wildlife enthusiasts,” he wrote.
Forest officials said it is not unusual for rhinos to be seen in Pabho, also spelt Pava or Pabha, about 194 km from the northeast corner of Kaziranga National Park’s Biswanath Wildlife Division.
“Every year or two, rhinos visit Pabho for a short duration of one or two months. Locals have seen rhinos mating there in the past,” a senior Assam Forest officer said.
Pabho was declared as Milroy Buffalo Sanctuary decades ago but there was no official notification. “Wild buffalos and rhinos share the same habitat, hence the name,” environmentalist Bibhab Kumar Talukdar said.
The 2,560.25 hectares Pabho was considered doomed decades ago when people belonging to various communities began encroaching upon it, leaving only 29 hectares for the trees and wildlife.
Prarthana Prasad is a social media influencer, entrepreneur and a leading voice from the LGBTQ+ community. At a recent Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DE&I) Conclave held in Bengaluru she opened up about how she is often a “token ticket” for the corporate world, increasingly contacted by brands for promotion during Pride Month.