ForumIAS announcing GS Foundation Program for UPSC CSE 2025-26 from 19 April. Click Here for more information.
ForumIAS Answer Writing Focus Group (AWFG) for Mains 2024 commencing from 24th June 2024. The Entrance Test for the program will be held on 28th April 2024 at 9 AM. To know more about the program visit: https://forumias.com/blog/awfg2024
News: The Sumatran rhino has become extinct in Malaysia following the death of its last captive individual. In 2015 they were declared extinct in the wild in Malaysia.
Facts:
About Sumatran Rhino
- The Sumatran rhino is the smallest and last form of the Two-horned hairy rhinos.
- Geographical Range: After it has become extinct in Malaysia, only four areas in Indonesia are known to contain Sumatran rhinoceros: Bukit Barisan Selatan National Park, Gunung Leuser National Park, and Way Kambas National Park on Sumatra; and on Indonesian Borneo west of Samarindah
Additional Information:
New Delhi Declaration on Asian Rhinos 2019
- Under the declaration India will collaborate with Bhutan, Nepal, Indonesia and Malaysia for conservation and protection of three Asian rhino species-
| Species | IUCN Status |
| Greater one-horned rhinoceros | Vulnerable |
| Javan rhinoceros | Critically Endangered |
| Sumatran Rhinoceros | Critically Endangered |
Rhino Conservation in India:
- India is home to the Great Indian One horned Rhinoceros. There are about 2,600 rhinos in India, with more than 90% of the population concentrated in Assam’s Kaziranga National Park. Outside Kaziranga, rhinos are found in West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.
National Rhino Conservation Strategy for India
- It was launched by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change in 2019.
- It focuses on:
- strengthening protection,
- expanding present distribution range by at least 5%, research on rhinos in India,
- active Indo- Nepal and Indo- Bhutan trans-boundary engagement, and
- Use of wildlife forensics for controlling poaching and illegal trade in rhino parts and products.
Indian Rhino Vision (IRV) 2020 programme
- It was launched in 2005 to protect and increase the population of the one-horned rhinoceros.
- The programme was launched by Assam Forest Department in partnership with WWF-India, the International Rhino Foundation and US Fish & Wildlife Service.
- It aims to attain a wild population of at least 3,000 greater one-horned rhinos spread over seven protected areas in Assam by the year 2020.
