Rhino counting will start on Saturday at Kaziranga National Park, home to about two-thirds of the world population of the endangered one-horned rhinoceros. The quadrennial census will take two days, will be supervised by senior Assam wildlife wardens, and will involve nearly 300 people from various non-governmental organisations. The park will be closed to tourists for three days, starting on 7 April. The 2009 census at Kaziranga National Park recorded 2,048 one-horned rhinos, an increase from the previous census. Censuses were recently concluded at Pobitora Wildlife Sanctuary near Guwahati and Rajiv Gandhi National Park at Orang. The census in the sanctuary recorded 93 of the animals, up from 84 in the last census, which was in 2009. The count in the park was 100, up from just 64 in 2009. While South Africa has reported a severe poaching crisis that could lead to extinction of rhinos there, Assam’s forest reserves have established some good trends, even though poaching continues unabated in various sanctuaries and national parks. The beasts' horns have a mysterious market value. The rising numbers in both Pobitora and Orang are reportedly due to an intensive effort by authorities to guard the animals from poachers and to involve villagers living around the reserves. The protected areas are almost surrounded by villages where the local people have been motivated to safeguard the rhinos and other wild animals, because they can benefit economically from their presence, as tourists flock to the area. "Understanding the importance of local people’s support in the effort, we started the mission to involve the villagers in the endeavour," said Pobitora Wildlife Sanctuary ranger Mukul Tamuly. "The people living around a forest reserve should be taken into confidence and, in return, you can have vital information about straying wild inmates into villages or any movement of poachers in those areas," he said. The 430 sq. km Kaziranga National Park is a paradise not only for rhinos, but also for Asiatic elephants and buffalo, Bengal tigers, Indian bison, swamp and hog deer, sloth bears, leopards and other jungle cats, otters, gibbons, wild boars, jackals, pythons and monitor lizards. The reserve, which is around 250 km east of Guwahati is also a refuge for nearly 500 species of domestic and migratory birds, including endangered species such as the Bengal florican and the great Indian hornbill. The subtropical monsoon delivers 1,300 mm of average annual rainfall and summertime temperatures often rise to 36° C, conditions which nurture swamps and elephant grass, and make it an ideal habitat for the vegetarian rhinos.