Climate Change Compounds Rhino Poaching Threat in Kaziranga and Jaldapara

Climate change is increasingly recognised as a compounding threat to greater one-horned rhinoceros populations in India, with extreme weather events displacing rhinos from protected areas and economic disruptions from climate impacts raising the risk of local communities becoming vulnerable to organised poaching networks, conservationists and field experts have told Down To Earth. Jaldapara National Park in West Bengal's Alipurduar district and Kaziranga National Park in Assam are identified as particularly at-risk habitats.

Jaldapara, which suffered population decline to just 14 rhinos in 1985 due to poaching and habitat loss, now hosts an estimated 331 rhinos according to a March 2025 census. However, floods in October 2025 caused 13 rhinos to stray outside the park and required rescue from Cooch Behar district. The park is exposed to glacial lake outburst flood risk through the Torsa river, which originates in Tibet, flows through Bhutan and enters Alipurduar. Bhutan has around 2,674 glacial lakes, of which 25 are classified as high-risk, with 18 outburst flood events recorded since the 1950s.

Kaziranga, which holds 2,613 rhinos, faces annual flood risk during peak monsoon season. Olivia Smith of the conservation organisation Helping Rhinos explained that while climate change is not a direct driver of poaching in the way demand for rhino horn is, rising temperatures, prolonged droughts and habitat degradation reduce food availability, stress ecosystems and make areas less habitable over time. Climate-related livelihood disruptions can make rural communities adjacent to wildlife areas more vulnerable to recruitment by organised criminal poaching networks.

Conservation practitioners argue that rhino protection must be approached holistically, combining anti-poaching enforcement with community resilience and ecosystem health. Rathiram Kharia, a guide in Jaldapara from a local tribal community, noted that locals sometimes turn to illegal activity when alternative sources of income are absent or severely reduced. Forest staff in Jaldapara earn approximately Rs 15,000 per month and conduct surveillance from wooden watchtowers across the park. Experts recommend factoring climate vulnerability assessments into wildlife management planning and strengthening livelihood programmes in communities bordering critical habitats.

Key figure — 331 rhinos in Jaldapara National Park as of March 2025 census, up from 14 in 1985