Oldest rhino at Dudhwa Park dies

Bankey- the oldest rhino at the Dudhwa National Park here who fathered most of the Park's rhino population- has died.

50-year-old Bankey died at the Rhino Rehabilitation Park at Dudhwa yesterday.

He was one of the five rhinos who was brought to Dudhwa in 1984 from Assam under the ambitious rhino relocation programme.

Among the 32 rhinos in Dudhwa at present, most rhinos are offsprings of Bankey.

"The founder member of rhino family, Bankey, was found dead in RRA on Wednesday," Deputy Director Dudhwa, Mahavir Kaujlagi said.

Old-age related problems were the cause of his death, he said.

Bankey's postmortem was carried out today by a team of three veterinary doctors.