Kaziranga rhinos stray out, face threat from poachers

Two adult rhinos have strayed out of Kaziranga National Park and are now under serious threat from poachers in a remote area located on the banks of the Brahmaputra on Tuesday.

Kaziranga rhinos stray out, face threat from poachers
JORHAT: Two adult rhinos have strayed out of Kaziranga National Park and are now under serious threat from poachers in a remote area located on the banks of the Brahmaputra on Tuesday. Forest staff said the areas where the rhinos are sheltering are vulnerable to attacks by poachers.

"Staff from both Kaziranga and Sonitpur East forest division are maintaining round-the-clock vigil to protect the rhinos. But the areas are very inaccessible. We are trying to chase them to the park periphery as soon as possible," said divisional forest officer (Sonitpur East) Aniruddha Dey under whose jurisdiction the sand bars fall.

He added, "Sandbars of the Brahmaputra are always considered as safe hubs for poachers. They always wait for a stray rhino to kill and chop off its horn. We had set up a forest camp in the said area but it was damaged in floods. Heavy fog is also creating a problem on the river banks to monitor the pachyderms at night."

Divisional forest officer (Kaziranga) S K Seal Sharma said the rhinos went out of the Agoratoli forest range in the park on Saturday. A group of poachers reportedly followed them in the proposed sixth addition of the park in Sonitpur district. According to intelligence inputs, poachers are still active and they are waiting for a chance.

"Our guards are closely monitoring the rhinos in the sandbars and they are still safe. We have engaged required forest staff to ensure the security of the rhinos," he said. It is a regular practice of rhinos in Kaziranga to go outside the park during winter in search of food. But, the poachers always take advantage of it. In January, an adult rhino which strayed out of the park was killed by poachers in the same area in Sonitpur east forest division.
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