These habitats are increasingly getting threatened due to riverside erosion, accumulation of weeds in water bodies such as water hyacinth and invasion by alien species such as Mikania sp. However, the dominance of tall grasses was well known to influence the R. unicornis prefer grassland habitats intermixed with wetlands and riverine forest but with marked seasonal variations that are evident in their habitat utilisation patterns 9, 12. Moreover, the growth of population in fragmented patches along with other sympatric species may also lead to increases in competition for space and food, leading to violent intraspecific and interspecific competitions 11. These isolated populations are at significant risk of local extirpation due to increasing land cover change, which may result in loss of genetic connectivity, inbreeding and population bottlenecking. In India, the state of Assam constitutes the major stronghold with an estimated 2,625 individuals in four populations 1, followed by Northern plains of Wes Bengal state with a total count of 280 individuals.
From the end of 15 th-century rhinos were abundant in the floodplains of Ganges, Bramhaputra and Sindh rivers, with a distribution ranging from Indo- Burmese territories in the east to Pakistan in the west 8, 9, 10. Unlike other widespread mega-herbivores, such as Asian elephant ( Elephas maximus) the current rhino’s population are confined mainly in and around a few patches 7. The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora has also listed the species in Appendix-I since 1975 to curb down the illegal poaching of the species for trade. The International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) has listed this species as vulnerable 7. Despite the efforts made by the forest managers towards its conservation, the species is still facing several conservation threats largely due to habitat loss in terms of fragmentation and encroachment 2, 3, 4, 5, 6. This species is a classic example of a conservation success story in Asia, where the population of the species has recovered from fewer than 200 individuals to about 3,557 individuals in India and Nepal, because of consented efforts of the forest management of both the governments 1. The Indian rhino ( Rhinoceros unicornis) is one of the threatened mega-herbivores distributed in isolated Protected Areas (PAs) in the Northern foothills of India and Southern areas of Nepal. Hence, bringing the territorial forest into the PA network, will be a crucial step to increase the fodder availability and better connectivity for the long term survival of the species. The Comparison of the future suitability model of 2028 with that of 2018 indicates a substantial increase in rhino suitable area by 13% in the territorial forest.
We found a strong positive association of R. Our result suggests a significant increase in woodland cover inside the PAs, whereas the grassland cover has increased outside the PA in territorial range. unicornis in a multi-temporal scenario from 1998 to 2018 using ensemble approach and also to simulate the future habitat suitability for 2028. The study was designed to understand the impacts of landcover change on habitat suitability of R. Both PAs were separated by a territorial forest range (Bridge Area), which is between both the PAs and under high anthropogenic disturbance. The present study was conducted in Gorumara landscape which is composed of two protected areas (PAs) viz., Gorumara National Park (GNP) and Chapramari Wildlife Sanctuary. The Indian rhino ( Rhinoceros unicornis) is susceptible to habitat change and fragmentation due to illegal logging, rapid urbanization and non-forest use and therefore were confined in to isolated areas throughout its distribution.
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