---
title: "Indian Rhino Vision 2020: Assam Rhino Plan | Model Diplomat"
description: "Indian Rhino Vision 2020 is a 2005 conservation program aimed at increasing the one-horned rhinoceros population in Assam's protected areas."
url: "https://modeldiplomat.com/learn/glossary/great-indian-one-horned-conservation"
---

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Model Diplomat Research Team · Last reviewed June 22, 2026

TL;DR

- Indian Rhino Vision 2020 was a conservation programme launched in 2005 to expand the greater one-horned rhinoceros population across seven protected areas in Assam, India.
- What was the population target of Indian Rhino Vision 2020?
- Which seven protected areas were covered under IRV2020?
- How does IRV2020 differ from Project Tiger?
- What replaced Indian Rhino Vision 2020?

[Civil Service & Diplomatic Exams](https://modeldiplomat.com/learn/civil-services/glossary)Updated June 22, 2026

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## Positions at a glance

### Supporters

Indian Rhino Vision 2020 (IRV2020) was a species-recovery programme launched in 2005 to increase the population of the greater one-horned rhinoceros (Rhinoceros unicornis) in the Indian state of Assam and, critically, to distribute that population across multiple protected areas rather than concentrating it in a single landscape. The programme was a partnership of the Assam Forest Department, the Bodoland Territorial Council, the International Rhino Foundation (IRF), the World Wide Fund for Nature–India (WWF-India), and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, with technical support from the IUCN's Asian Rhino Specialist Group. Its legal foundation rests on the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972, under which the species is listed in Schedule I, affording it the highest level of protection, and on Assam's authority over forest and wildlife governance as a state subject. The greater one-horned rhino is classified as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List and is listed on Appendix I of CITES, prohibiting commercial international trade.

### Opponents

The programme was not without controversy. Translocations carried mortality risk, and several relocated animals died from stress, capture complications, or post-release poaching, prompting scrutiny of capture protocols. Manas reintroduction faced renewed poaching pressure in the years after the first releases, exposing the dependence of range expansion on sustained anti-poaching enforcement and the cooperation of the Bodoland Territorial Region administration. The heavy genetic and demographic dependence on Kaziranga also raised questions about long-term genetic diversity. In 2021, Assam publicly burned a large stockpile of seized rhino horn to signal a zero-tolerance stance against trafficking, underscoring that demand for horn in illegal markets remains the principal external threat to the species.

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Example

In 2008, the Assam Forest Department, WWF-India and the International Rhino Foundation translocated greater one-horned rhinos from Pobitora and Kaziranga to Manas National Park under Indian Rhino Vision 2020, re-establishing a breeding population lost to poaching.

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