Rhino killed in Kaziranga, toll rises to 14 this year

GUWAHATI: Poachers managed to kill another rhino at Kaziranga, a world heritage site about 250 km from here, on Sunday, barely a week after the national park was opened to visitors.

Kaziranga divisional forest officer S K Seal Sarma said the poachers were, however, unable to take away the horn, following prompt retaliation from forest guards.

The latest poaching that took place in the Bagori forest range of the park has increased the toll of rhinos to 14 so far this year.

Kaziranga, with over 2,000 rhinos, has been bearing the brunt of poaching with the soaring demand of rhino horn in the international grey market, especially in China, Vietnam and other Southeast Asian countries. "The problem exists round the year, but it increases during the festive season," said an official.

Park authorities have gunned down 18 poachers and arrested 62 people this year. Forest officials said involvement of militants from the adjoining Karbi Anglong district has emerged as a big challenge to park authorities.

The last poaching took place on October when poachers, armed with sophisticated night-vision-enabled riflescope, killed a rhino in the Burapahar forest range of Kaziranga.

The National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA)'s rhino task force report has said rhino poaching is an organized crime and has components of arms smuggling, money laundering, cross-border smuggling, terrorism and international illegal wildlife trade.

The task force report has emphasized on the need for institutionalizing the inter-departmental coordination between different enforcement agencies as one of the strategies for tackling poaching in the national park.