De-horned rhino carcass found

The Times of India , Sunday, September 06, 2015
Correspondent : Naresh Mitra
GUWAHATI: A de-horned rhino carcass was found by officials of Kaziranga National Park as floodwaters began receding from the Unesco World Heritage site on Friday. It was found outside the park boundary, near the Bagori forest range.

Nearly 80% of the 430-sqkm park is still under water and vast stretches remain inaccessible.

Park officials did not rule out the involvement of poachers in cutting off the horn. They said the poachers might have stumbled upon the carcass of the drowned animal and de-horned it. "It is virtually impossible to enter the park and kill a rhino inside the submerged Kaziranga. They (poachers) might have cut the horn after stumbling upon the carcass that might have floated beyond the park boundaries," Kaziranga divisional forest officer S K Seal Sarma said.

Kaziranga, which has an estimated 2,401 rhinos, has already lost nine pachyderms to poachers till July this year. With animals, especially rhinos, moving out of Kaziranga to the highlands in adjoining KarbiAnglong district, officials said the threat of poaching has increased manifold.

"Once rhinos are outside the park area, they become easy targets. We have stepped up vigil in the fringe areas of the park to curb poaching," another park official said. Assessment of animal casualties caused by the floodwaters would only be possible after the water-level decreases significantly, park authorities said. Last week, a rhino calf had drowned inside the park.

 
SOURCE : http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/guwahati/De-horned-rhino-carcass-found/articleshow/48835053.cms
 


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