Rhino carcass found in Jaldapara

JALPAIGURI: A rhino carcass was found in Jaldapara National Park on Sunday which had its horn missing. Though autopsy revealed that the adult male had died in a fight with another rhino around five days back, foresters do not yet know what happened to the horn.

"It might have been chopped off by poachers, or it may have got uprooted during the fight. We are not ruling out any of the possibilities right now," said a senior forest official.

The carcass was discovered in compartment 5 of the forest, a kilometre from Holong forest bungalow. By the time patrol parties could trace it, the horn had probably been chopped off. It could also have been done by locals, who allegedly often assist poachers.

Incidents of poaching or poaching attempts are not new in Jaldapara, one of the four forest tracts in India where the one-horned rhino can be seen in the wild.

In October 2009, a gang shot and injured a rhino, which escaped from the forest, only to be confronted by villagers armed with stones and sticks. The frightened animal fell into the Torsha and died a couple of days later.

In June 2011, a poaching bid was foiled at Jaldapara after foresters on patrol located the poachers and chased them out of the forest.