TheAssam forest departmenthas denied allegations of “manipulation” of rhino census data at the Kaziranga and Tiger Reserve (KNPTR) – a UNESCO world heritage site, flagged by an RTI activist who accused the park authorities of jacking up the total rhino count from 2,042 to 2,634.
Choudhury wrote to the forest and Environment ministry on January 27, alleging that the 2022 census figures for rhino were doctored. According to Choudhury, the rhino count was 200 more than the 2018 estimate of 2,413.
The 14th rhino census was carried out at the KNPTR in March last year, which counted 2,634 one-horned rhinos in the park. The final computation of data was carried out on March 28 and 2,613 was the total number of rhinos arrived at during computation.