Habitat suitability of Laokhowa Burhachapori wildlife sanctuary complex of Assam, India for Rhinoceros unicornis Linn.

The study is an assessment of the present habitat for Great Indian One-horned Rhinoceros in Laokhowa and Burhachapori Wildlife Sanctuaries of Assam. Focused group discussions were conducted with forest staff and fringe villagers who were familiar with the rhino range of the sanctuaries before 1983. Temporal assessment of the land use and land cover of the sanctuaries was done using satellite imageries to understand the change in the overall habitat. Assessment of the present habitat suitability for rhinos in LBWLS complex was done by overlaying a 1x1 km grid over the study area and collection of field data pertaining to 15 parameters from each grid using relevant sampling techniques. The study documents extensive temporal change in the landcover of the two sanctuaries. It also finds that 7.8% of the complex is highly suitable habitat for rhinos while 51.3% is least suitable. The study concludes that the present habitat of Laokhowa and Burhachapori is suitable for supporting rhinos and recommends that the highly suitable and suitable habitat areas can be immediately used for translocation of rhinos under the IRV2020 programme.