The rhino calf in the Jaldapara wildlife sanctuary. Picture by Anirban Choudhury

Alipurduar, July 19: A rhino calf was born in Jaldapara wildlife sanctuary on Sunday taking the total number of animal in the forest to 161. It is the sixth calf to be born in the sanctuary in the past four months and foresters said this birth rate is the highest in the decade.

Omprakash, the divisional forest officer (wildlife-III), said: “Six calves were born in the sanctuary in the past four months and this is the highest birth rate in the past one decade. It means that there is no stress on the calves and no biotic pressure (on the animals) in the sanctuary.”

He said the high rate of birth among the rhinos indicates that the animals have enough food and space for free movement in the forest and they have a good and secured environment.

According to foresters, nine rhinos were born in Jaldapara in 2009-10.

According to the census conducted in March this year, there were 54 adult male rhinos, 44 adult females and three adults whose sex could not be determined.

There were also four “sub-adult” males, 15 “sub-adult” females in the forest.

Seven “sub-adult” animals have been listed in the “unknown” category.

The census also showed that there were 28 calves in the sanctuary taking the total number of rhinos to 155.

After the survey, six calves were born in the forest and currently the total number of the animal in Jaldapara is 161, foresters said.

According to the DFO, the ideal male-female ratio for rhinos is 1:3 and the ratio is 1:2 in Jaldapara.

In 1966 census, 76 rhinos were found in the sanctuary. The number came down to 14 during the survey in 1985.

“We have intensified patrolling and improved the habitat of the rhinos in the sanctuary. We have improved the wallow pools in the forest. We hope that the rate of breeding will improve in future,” Omprakash said.

Leopard cub

A leopard cub was spotted by the workers of Beech tea estate in a drain on Monday morning. Foresters of Nilpara range arrived at the garden, 42km from Alipurduar, and kept the workers away from the animal. The cub was not seen on Tuesday. Foresters suspect that the cub, hardly a week-old, was taken away by its mother.