The Clarion Volume 4 Number 2 (2015) PP 39-47 The Clarion International Multidisciplinary Journal Corresponding author : smarajit.ojah@gmail.com Habitat suitability of Laokhowa Burhachapori wildlife sanctuary complex of Assam, India for Rhinoceros unicornis Linn. Smarajit Ojah 1 , Anup Saikia 2 and P. Sivakumar 3 1. Department of Geography, Nowgong Girls’ College, Nagaon, India 2. Department of Geography, Gauhati University, Guwahati, India 3. Conservator of Forests, Northern Assam Circle, Assam Forest Department, Tezpur, India Abstract The study is an assessment of the present habitat for Great Indian One-horned Rhinoceros in Laokhowa and Burhachapori Wildlife Sanctuaries of Assam. Focused group discussions were conducted with forest staff and fringe villagers who were familiar with the rhino range of the sanctuaries before 1983. Temporal assessment of the land use and land cover of the sanctuaries was done using satellite imageries to understand the change in the overall habitat. Assessment of the present habitat suitability for rhinos in LBWLS complex was done by overlaying a 1x1 km grid over the study area and collection of field data pertaining to 15 parameters from each grid using relevant sampling techniques. The study documents extensive temporal change in the landcover of the two sanctuaries. It also finds that 7.8% of the complex is highly suitable habitat for rhinos while 51.3% is least suitable. The study concludes that the present habitat of Laokhowa and Burhachapori is suitable for supporting rhinos and recommends that the highly suitable and suitable habitat areas can be immediately used for translocation of rhinos under the IRV2020 programme. Keywords: rhino, habitat suitability, Kaziranga, tiger reserve, Laokhowa, Burhachapori, IRV2020. ISSN : 2277-1697 1. Introduction The contiguous Laokhowa and Burhachapori Wildlife Sanctuaries (LBWLS) (Figure 1) are two important Protected Areas (PAs) of central Assam (Ojah et al., 2012, Assam Forest Department, 2014). Laokhowa WLS (LWLS) is located between latitudes 26°28’31.85"N to 26°32’13.95"N and longitudes 92°37’57.91"E to 92°47’23.27"E having a total area of 70.1 sq.km in Nagaon district. Burhachapori WLS (BWLS) is located between latitudes 26°30’34.16"N to 26°33’48.96"N and longitudes 92°34’27.31"E to 92°46’10.667"E with a total area of 44.06 sq.km in Sonitpur district (Bora 2003, Phukan & Sharma 2003, Ojah et al., 2012, Ojah 2014, Yadava 2014, Yadava). The two sanctuaries lie between the Kaziranga National Park (NP) to the east and the Orang NP to the west. In 2007, both Laokhowa and Burhachapori were declared as the buffer components of the Kaziranga Tiger Reserve (KTR). At present, the sanctuaries are managed by the Nagaon Wildlife Division, under the Director, KTR (Assam Forest Department 2014, Yadava 2014, Yadava). The biological value of the PAs can be gauged from the fact that Laokhowa was notified as a Proposed Reserve Forest (PRF) along with Kaziranga in the first decade of the 20 th century on the basis of its then rhino population (Yadava). In 1955, this area held 41 great one-horned rhinos (Rhinoceros unicornis). (Laurie 1978, Menon 1996). During the early 1980s, the area was home more than 70 rhinos. However, due to the unstable political situation of the state during early 1980s (Assam Agitation), poachers massacared more than 40 rhinos within a matter of weeks in 1983 (Menon 1996, Bora 2003, Phukan & Sharma 2003, Ojah 2014). The rest of the surviving rhinos fled to