GUWAHATI: A male rhino was killed by poachers, who also took away away its horn, in the
Kaziranga National Forest on Thursday. Armed with automatic rifles, the poachers gunned down the rhino at
Burapahar forest range in the western part of the park. Though forest officials reportedly retaliated with gunfire, they could not prevent the poachers from escaping.
This is the fourth rhino to be killed by poachers in
Kaziranga this year. Six rhinos were poached last year while at least 16 of them were killed by poachers in 2016.
Officials suspect that the poachers might have sneaked into the protected area at least a couple of days ago. "The spot where the rhino was killed is not easily accessible. We suspect that the poachers might have followed the rhino to that spot. Otherwise, they would not have risked climbing up the highland, deep inside the park, just to kill the rhino," a Kaziranga official said.
Officials added that the poachers came from the adjoining
Karbi Anglong area, a hilly district on the southern fringe of the park, where animals take shelter during flood. Pre-monsoon showers have trigged the growth of thick vegetation inside the park, which also provided cover for the poachers.
The incident comes barely a week after the new forest minister Parimal
Suklabaidya visited the world heritage site to take stock of the anti-poaching drive there. Suklabaidya had emphasized on the need to strengthen coordination between forest officials and police to curb rhino poaching at the Kaziranga.
Spread across an area of 860 sq km on the southern banks of the Brahmaputra, Kaziranga is home to an estimated 2,413 rhinos. The park has been badly affected by poaching activities, with rhinos being especially targeted.