The rare one-horned rhinos that roam Kaziranga National Park in northeastern India are becoming more common, thanks to increased police anti-poaching efforts and constructed mud platforms that keep the animals safe from floods.

These successful conservation initiatives have helped increase the park's rhino population by 200 in the last four years, according to census numbers released this week by park authorities.

In March, over 400 personnel inspected the park's 500 square kilometers (190 square miles) territory with 50 domesticated elephants and drones and discovered that rhino numbers had climbed by more than 12%, eliminating a serious threat to the animals posed by poaching gangs and monsoon flooding.

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“From the last count in 2018, the number of the rare one-horned rhinoceros at our park has risen by 200. The number of this species at the Kaziranga now stands at 2,613,” park director Jatindra Sarma said.

“Poaching has declined in recent years with only one rhino being killed so far this year,” S. Gogoi, a wildlife official, said.

Poachers kill rhinoceroses to obtain their horns, which are thought to have aphrodisiac powers and are in high demand in Southeast Asia's underground markets.

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Monsoon flooding has also destroyed various species of animals in Kaziranga, which is scattered across the floodplains of the Brahmaputra River in Assam. Authorities have constructed high mud platforms where rhinos can seek refuge, with guards giving them grain to help them survive the monsoon season.

A police task team formed last year is armed with weaponry as sophisticated as those used by poachers, according to G.P. Singh, the squad's commanding officer. In the past, wildlife rangers and security personnel patrolled the park with antiquated weapons.

Poaching in Kaziranga reached an all-time high in 2013 and 2014, with 27 rhinos killed each year. In 2017, it was six; in 2018, it was seven; in 2019, it was three; in 2020, it was two; and in 2021, it was one.

Kaziranga, a UNESCO World Heritage Site that dates back more than a century, is also a breeding area for elephants, wild water buffaloes, and swamp deer, and conservation initiatives have helped enhance its tiger population.