A one-horned rhino was killed by poachers in the Kaziranga National Park, 195 km from Guwahati, late on Tuesday night. The poachers had removed the rhino’s horn. This is the third rhino to be killed inside the national park this month. Last year, 17 rhinos were killed and their horns poached.
The one-horned rhino has long been a target in the forests of Assam. While poaching is far from uncommon, what is uncommon is the use of sophisticated weaponry by poachers, who are in possession of weapons that are superior to the outdated .303 rifles that Assam’s Forest guards use. After experimenting with assault rifles such as the AK-47 and the AK-56, poachers used the technically advanced M4 rifles to kill the rhino.
Senior Park OfficialThe incident came to light when the forest guards heard gunshots from the Burhapahar range around12.30 in the night. Immediately an operation was launched but the carcass of the rhino was only discovered on Wednesday morning, near the Deochur camp in the Burhapahar range of the park.
The involvement of a Naga insurgent group, the NSCN (K), is suspected.
According to World Wide Fund for Nature, illegal rhino horn trade and trade of other Rhino body parts like nails and skins are invaluable to Asian traditional medicinal market and are sought after in South Asian market.
Ever since the NDA government came to power at the Centre in 2014, rhino poaching in Assam has been a political tug of war between Centre and the ruling Congress in the state.
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