Pobitora Wildlife Sanctuary () is a wildlife sanctuary on the southern bank of the

Brahmaputra The Brahmaputra is a trans-boundary river which flows through Tibet, northeast India, and Bangladesh. It is also known as the Yarlung Tsangpo in Tibetan, the Siang/Dihang River in Arunachali, Luit in Assamese, and Jamuna River in Bangla. It ...

in Morigaon district in

Assam Assam (; ) is a state in northeastern India, south of the eastern Himalayas along the Brahmaputra and Barak River valleys. Assam covers an area of . The state is bordered by Bhutan and Arunachal Pradesh to the north; Nagaland and Manipur ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. It was declared in 1987 and covers , providing grassland and wetland habitat for the Indian rhinoceros. Pobitora Wildlife Sanctuary holds one of the largest Indian rhinoceros populations in Assam.

Biodiversity

Pobitora Wildlife Sanctuary's grassland vegetation consists of at least 15 grass species including '' Cynodon dactylon'', whip grass ('' Hemarthria compressa''),

vetiver ''Chrysopogon zizanioides'', commonly known as vetiver and khus, is a perennial bunchgrass of the family Poaceae. Vetiver is most closely related to ''Sorghum'' but shares many morphological characteristics with other fragrant grasses, such as ...

(''Chrysopogon zizanioides''), ravennagrass (''Saccharum ravennae''), ''

Phragmites ''Phragmites'' () is a genus of four species of large perennial reed grasses found in wetlands throughout temperate and tropical regions of the world. Taxonomy The World Checklist of Selected Plant Families, maintained by Kew Garden in London ...

karka'', southern cutgrass (''Leersia hexandra'') and signalgrass (''

Brachiaria ''Brachiaria'', or signalgrass, is a genus of plants in the grass family native to tropical and subtropical regions of Asia, Africa, Australia, southern Europe, the Americas, and various islands.golden jackal,

wild boar The wild boar (''Sus scrofa''), also known as the wild swine, common wild pig, Eurasian wild pig, or simply wild pig, is a suid native to much of Eurasia and North Africa, and has been introduced to the Americas and Oceania. The species is ...

and feral

water buffalo The water buffalo (''Bubalus bubalis''), also called the domestic water buffalo or Asian water buffalo, is a large bovid originating in the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia. Today, it is also found in Europe, Australia, North America, So ...

. 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.Islam, Z. & Rahmani, A. (2004). ''IBAs in India''. BNHS & BLI, Mumbai & Cambridge. In Pobitora Wildlife Sanctuary, there are now around 102 (2018) rhinos, a 10% increase over the last six years. Pobitora has exceeded its rhino-bearing capacity and is overpopulated. The animals have begun moving outside the sanctuary in search of food, and chances of serious man-animal conflict are quite rife. Besides, the straying animals carry the risk of contracting diseases that afflict domestic animals. Under the Indian Rhino Vision 2020 (IRV 2020) which is a joint programme of the Department of Environment & Forests,

Government of Assam The Government of Assam is the subnational government of Assam, a state of India. It consists of the Governor appointed by the President of India as the head of the state, currently Jagdish Mukhi. The head of government is the Chief Minister, ...

WWF-India World Wide Fund for Nature-India, better known by its abbreviation, WWF-India, has been devotedly working to protect and secure natural heritage and ecology for more than 50 years. It has an autonomous office, with the Secretariat based in New Del ...

, the

International Rhino Foundation The International Rhino Foundation (IRF) is a Texas-based Charitable organization, charity focused on the conservation movement, conservation of the five species of rhinoceros: the White Rhinoceros and Black Rhinoceros in Africa, and the Indian R ...

and the

US fish & wildlife service The United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS or FWS) is an agency within the United States Department of the Interior dedicated to the management of fish, wildlife, and natural habitats. The mission of the agency is "working with othe ...

, six rhinos were translocated from Pobitora and re-introduced into the Manas National Park between December 2010 and January 2011. Earlier, under the same programme, two rhinos were similarly translocated from Pobitora to Manas National Park in 2008. Pobitora Wildlife Sanctuary is also home to over 375 species of birds.

References

External links

Photo essay on the rhino translocations from Pobitora to Manas National Park
{{Protected areas of Assam Brahmaputra Valley semi-evergreen forests Tourism in Northeast India Wildlife sanctuaries in Assam Morigaon district Protected areas established in 1987 1987 establishments in Assam

Biodiversity

See also

References

External links