An epic feat of community transformation—that’s how the local community brought the iconic Greater One-horned Rhino back to Manas National Park. The rhino, a pivotal species in the region, was lost to poaching and habitat destruction following Assam’s tumultuous Bodoland movement in the 1980s and ‘90s, with the last rhino killed in 2002. In 2003, student leaders set out to save their homeland from destruction by setting up Manas Maozigendri Ecotourism Society (MMES), which brought the rhino back to Manas National Park, and turned former poachers into its fiercest protectors, reimagining a sustainable future for its wildlife, and its youth.

Director & Producer: Gautam Pandey
2022 | 6 min
India
Language: Boro (a Sino-Tibetan language)
Subtitles: English

Filmmaker Q&A:
https://simaacademy.com/filmmaker-qa/return-of-the-rhino/