Travesty struck Kaziranga National Park on Sunday with the year’s first rhino poaching incident reported last night.
According to initial reports, the carcass of a rhino was found inside the Kaziranga national park with its horn missing, pointing to a clear case of poaching.
As per information received, the carcass of the rhino was found in Bormar beel at Kathpara camp under the Western Bagori forest range inside Kaziranga. Forest department officials who took cognizance of the matter informed that the rhino was killed around six to seven days back.
The carcass was found yesterday by forest department staffers inspecting in the area in the afternoon hours at around 4.30 pm. The entire incident of poaching was informed by Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) Ramesh Kumar Gogoi.
A notification from the DFO read, “One rhino carcass was detected by staff of Kathpara camp under Western Range Bagori at about 4.30 pm in Bormer beel on 26th March'2023. There was a cut mark in nasal bone of the rhino and horn was taken away by miscreants. It is evidently clear that the rhino was killed by poacher about 6-7 days ahead. Sex yet to be ascertained as the carcass is floating in the water.”
It may be noted that the rhino poaching incident, the first one recorded this year, comes in the wake of the Assam Police’s efforts which saw the state record zero rhino deaths due to poaching in the calendar year 2022.
Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma had on January 1 said that no rhino poaching incident took place in the year 2022 in Kaziranga and across the state. Poaching of rhinos was rampant in the past, which has now come down drastically due to stringent surveillance and other elevated security arrangements in Kaziranga National Park being put in by the authorities.
Assam is known for its one-horned Rhino and the state attracts a large number of tourists who come to visit such sites. Kaziranga National Park is now home to 2,613 Rhinos and the numbers are increasing, as per the latest census data put out by the national park authority, he said.
In 2021, the number of Rhinos lost to poaching was the lowest in 21 yrs at just 1. In 2013 and 2014, as many as 27 Rhinos were killed by poachers.
To give a clear message to poachers that Rhino horns don't attach any medicinal or monetary value, the Assam government publicly burnt a stockpile of 2,479 horns in September. "The use of rhinos' horns for medicinal purposes is a myth," Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma had then said.
The state government had received a lot of praise for its efforts in bringing down the rate of poaching in the state, so far so that Hollywood actor and noted wildlife conservation activist Leonardo DiCaprio praised the Assam government on the landmark achievement.
Taking to his Instagram handle, the actor wrote, “In 2021, the government of the Indian state of Assam set out to end the poaching of the Endangered Greater One-Horned Rhinoceros in Kaziranga National Park following the killing of around 190 animals for their horns between 2000 and 2021. In 2022, they met their goal and no rhinos were poached in the area for the first time since 1977.”
He continued, “Kaziranga National Park is home to 2,200 Greater One-horned Rhinos, which is about two-thirds of the world's population. This triumph in India also comes with more good news, as @wwf also reports that the world population of the rare rhino soared to around 3,700 from about 200 at the turn of the 20th century.”
