Rhino killed in Kaziranga, horn and ears taken away

Kaziranga (Assam): An adult male rhino was shot dead in Kaziranga National Park in upper Assam by poachers who took away its horn, ears and a patch of its skin, park sources said.

This is the 38th rhino killed by poachers so far this year in the Park. The carcass of the rhino was spotted today by the Forest Department patrolling staff in the Bhelupatoni area between Bohola Janata forest camp and Chirang camp under Burapahar Range of the World Heritage Site, Park sources said.

After killing the rhino, poachers sawed the horn, cut its ears and a portion of its skin and took them away, the sources said. Earlier on November one, the carcass of a male rhino with its horn taken away was recovered near Tohola camp in Agaratoli Range of the Park.

Kaziranga, home to the one-horned Great Indian Rhinoceros had opened to tourists On November one for four months after it was routinely closed in May before the onset of the monsoon.

Recently on November 22, a Parliamentary Standing Committee team visiting the Park had expressed serious concern over the killing of rhinos by poachers there and assured the authorities to take up the matter with the central ministries concerned.

Three empty cartridges of an AK-47 rifle were recovered from near the carcass, the sources said. Meanwhile, the influential Jatiyatabadi Yuba Chatra Parishad and the Journalists Union of Assam, Golaghat unit, demonstrated today at entrance of the Park to protest against the killings of the rhinos.