Rhino falls prey to illegal poaching in Kaziranga National Park

Guwahati: A rhino has falled prey to illegal poaching in the Kaziranga National Park in Assam.The carcass of the dead rhino was located yesterday in the area of Doramari.

Romen Das, the Assistant Conservator of Forests of the local forest department disclosed that they could not take proper action because of the darkness. "We came again in the morning and found that it is a male rhino and has been dead for the last four to five days. We have not found any bullet marks yet and we can be sure only after the post mortem is done. We had no information from our local staff as it may have died from lightning as well. No sound of gunshots has also been reported," he said . The male rhino with its horn chopped off , according to the staff of the department, had been lying dead from the last few days . Forest officials are still not calling it a case of poaching as no report of gunshots have been reported from the park`s vicinity in the last few days. Kaziranga is home to a vast number of the famed and endangered species of wildlife in Assam state and these include the rhinos and the striped feline beauties of tigers. In the last four months around 16 one-horned rhinos were killed in Assam, of which at least 11 were killed inside the Kaziranga National Park by poachers. There were 2,329 rhinos in the park, according to the latest census. Meanwhile, the CBI had registered three cases relating to rhino poaching during 2012 in and around Kaziranga. Recently, the Indian wildlife authorities` introduced the aerial drones equipped with cameras, to check rampant poaching. To protect the one-horned rhino, wildlife authorities in Assam have even deployed armed guards, but they have often proved ineffective before the organised gangs of poachers, who continue to strike down the rhinos. Rhino horn is in great demand in China and Southeast Asia as it is believed to possess aphrodisiac qualities, which are used in traditional medicines and allied concoctions. ANI