A one-horned Rhino was killed in Assam’s Kaziranga National Park by poachers less than 12-hours after the Duke of Cambridge Prince William and his wife Duchess Kate Middleton visited the wildlife reserve to raise awareness for protecting rhinos.
By the time we reached, a lot of rounds were fired. There were 103 empty rounds and two live bullets. It is a male rhino and his horn is missing.Vinod Chandra, Forest Guard
An empty cartridge of an AK-47 assault rifle used to kill the rhino was found at the spot.
When the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge arrived at the world’s largest one-horn rhino park in remote northeastern India on Tuesday, conservationists hoped the British royals could help raising a global awareness about how black-market demand for rhino horns and other animal parts is fuelling illegal poaching and pushing the species towards extinction.
Another rhino was poached two days prior to the visit of British Royal couple. The poachers shot the rhino and then sawed off its horn while he was still alive. On finding the wounded animal, park officials rushed to help but were unsuccessful.
(With AP inputs, more details awaited)
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