An Assessment of the Population Density of Greater One-Horned Rhinoceros in Uttar Pradesh and Their Distribution in India

Abstract

India’s alluvial plains once supported the abundance of greater one-horned rhino (Rhinoceros unicornis; hereafter rhino). Due to uncontrolled poaching and land degradation due to human intervention, they lost almost 80% of their natural habitat. Around 90% of rhinos are confined to Assam, along the Gangetic plains in northeastern India. Having formerly been a habitat for Indian rhinos, Uttar Pradesh reintroduced them at Dudhwa National Park in 1984. Based on secondary data collected from the study area (1984–2021), we analyzed the rhino population’s life-history traits. Seven rhinos were brought from Assam and Nepal to start the seed population, including two males and five females. The rhino population increased steadily in the Dudhwa NP and reached asymptote. Birth rate and mortality rate were 0.17/year and 0.05/year, respectively. Observation of 10 adult females over 47 birth records revealed a higher fertility rate between 8 and 20 years, with a mean inter-birth interval of 4.3 years. According to their large body size, rhinos exhibit similar life-history traits to other large mammals, such as a slow onset of sexual maturity, few young, high inter-birth intervals, and fertility into old age. The current estimated population of Indian rhinoceros is about 35–40 in Uttar Pradesh.