All the greater one-horned rhinoceroses swept away in the devastating floods in Alipurduar have been successfully tranquillised and relocated to the Jaldapara National Park, the largest habitat of the species in Bengal.

The operation, now being hailed as the largest coordinated rhino rescue and release mission ever in India, was carried out over a span of 13 days by the Jaldapara wildlife division.

The final rhino, the 10th, was rescued on Friday from a low-lying area in Patlakhawa of Cooch Behar and was released safely into the national park after a thorough veterinary examination.

Parveen Kaswan, the divisional forest officer of Jaldapara wildlife division, said: “This has been the most extensive rhino rescue operation ever conducted in any forest in India. The work is almost over, but we will continue scanning the Patlakhawa and Putimari forests (in Cooch Behar) for a few more days to ensure no animals remain stranded.”

“The credit goes entirely to our field staff, many of whom haven’t slept properly for 13 days,” he added.

On October 5, heavy rain caused the Torsha river to overflow, inundating large parts of the park. Ten rhinos were reported missing.

Five of them were found stranded near human habitations, while five others were swept downstream into the Cooch Behar district, 10km to 15km away from the park boundary.

“The mission combined efforts from forest staff, veterinary experts, drone teams and elephant squads. Monitoring teams, comprising range officers and trained elephants, were deployed to locate the displaced rhinos and guide them back,” said a source.

The process involved tranquillising the rhinos under veterinary supervision and bringing them back to the park.

“Fire tenders with water hoses kept the animals hydrated during transit,” the source added.

Kaswan said the first five rhinos, spotted close to the park, were guided back without tranquillisation within the first three days.

The remaining five required full-scale rescue procedures, given their distance and proximity to human settlements.

“On Friday, the 10th rhino, which had eluded earlier rescue attempts, was finally found,” said the DFO.

Trapped leopard flees

A leopard caught in a cage at Khaochandpara in Alipurduar’s Falakata escaped on Saturday morning, raising questions about the cage’s condition and handling by forest staff.