Fresh rhino poaching in Kaziranga

The Kaziranga National Park woes continues with hunting of rhinos as yet again two rhinos including a calf were killed on Monday by organised poacher gangs, as park official informed.

Wildlife authorities at the national park in north-eastern state of Assam have sounded a maximum alert following the poaching as reported in a newspaper based in Guwahati.

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As per the local report a poacher gang, armed with sophisticated weapons, shot dead the mother rhino and her calf at Agaratoli range of national park.

A park official said, ‘the poachers were able to take away the horns after killing the rhinos’.

Kaziranga National Park, housing single largest and the endangered one-horned rhinos have seen sudden spurt in illegal rhino poaching in recent past. In the last three months poachers have so far killed six rhinos in the 166 square-miles park.

The last case was reported on 5th February when park authorities claimed to have identified poachers. Five to ten rhinos are killed every year on an average but the last couple of years recorded a stiff rise in the number. Last year alone, 18 rhinos were killed by poachers.

As per the latest figure, some 1,855 of the world's estimated 2,700 rhinos are known to reside in the habitat of Kaziranga. However, their conservation and protection of wildlife has been a major concern.

Between 1980 and 1997, some 550 rhinos were killed by organized poacher gangs in Kaziranga - the highest being 48 in 1992.

Though there has been a down fall in the number poached between 1998 and 2006 with just 47 killed with a tight vigil by wildlife authorities and locals but the number is yet again on the rise with the growing network of poachers.

They kill rhinos for their horns, which values about 1.5 million rupees per kilogram in the international market. It is also believed that the horn considered an aphrodisiac and used for local medicines and mostly smuggled to China and other Asian market.

Kaziranga is Assam's major tourist attraction but the administration has so far failed to check the illegal poaching in the park. Central Government has enacted the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972 to deal with the issues of wildlife conservation including wildlife crime. However, there needs much to be done with intensive patrolling in sensitive protected areas and nature awareness campaigns which can facilitate to saving this majestic wild life.