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The Assam Forest Department, in collaboration with the Wildlife Institute of India (WII), has launched a DNA profiling initiative for 2,573 rhino horn samples to strengthen conservation and wildlife crime investigations. 

DNA Profiling of Rhino Horns 

About

• As part of anti-poaching and conservation efforts, rhino horn samples retained during the public burning of seized and naturally deceased rhino horns in 2021 are being DNA profiled.   
• Samples, mainly from poaching seizures and natural deaths, were verified at Kaziranga National Park, Assam. 

Genetic Analysis: Samples have been sent to the Wildlife Institute of India (WII), Dehradun, for DNA analysis under the RhoDIS (Rhino DNA Index System) India programme.

RhoDIS India 

• Launched in 2016, RhoDIS India is a collaborative initiative of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC), rhino-range States, the WII, and WWF-India.   
• It aims to create individual DNA profiles of rhino horns for integration into a national forensic database, supporting wildlife crime investigations and the genetic conservation planning of the one-horned rhinos.

One-Horned Rhino (Rhinoceros unicornis) 

• The greater one-horned rhino (or Indian rhino) is the largest rhino species, identified by a single 8–25 inch black horn and armor-like skin folds.  
• It is mostly solitary and has overlapping, loosely defined home ranges. It is a grazer, feeding mainly on grasses, along with leaves, fruits, and aquatic plants.  
• Assam holds 80% of the global one-horned rhinoceros population, with Kaziranga National Park (1,300 sq km) alone housing 70% of them(as of 2022).  
• Due to sustained conservation efforts, India’s rhino population has grown by 170% since the 1980s, rising from around 1,500 to over 4,014 in 2024.