International wildlife conservation groups have expressed serious concern over inadequate forest rangers to protect the endangered one-horned rhinoceros from poachers at the famed Kaziranga National Park in Assam.
"The existing sanctioned strength of staff does not even meet the management requirements of the original 430 sq km national park. While rhinoceros poaching in the park is under control, the threat of poaching is ever present,"a joint study conducted by the UNESCO and the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) stated.
According to latest wildlife census figures, more than 1,600 of the world's estimated 2,400 rhinos roam the thick grasslands of Kaziranga.
"The park needs good firearms to combat the poachers, often armed with sophisticated weapons," the report titled 'Protection Strategies and Suggestions to Enhance their Effectiveness in Kaziranga National Park' said.
"The anti-poaching infrastructure in new additions and reserve forests is highly inadequate and practically non-existent in many areas," the report said.
Wildlife officials admit they were handicapped by shortage of anti-poaching squads. "It is true we need more forest guards and better infrastructure for effective patrolling," Assam's chief wildlife warden MC Malakar told The Pioneer.
The park is understaffed - some 120 posts of the total sanctioned 600 forest guards - are lying vacant with the Government unable to recruit due to financial constraints.
"We are using some temporary casual workers for patrolling and same time some recruitment is going on," the warden said.
Poachers killed as many as 600 of the rhinos at Kaziranga between 1985 and 2000.
Park warden's report show a downslide in rhino poaching in the past five years, saying only about 12 of the animals were hunted down in the last two years.
"Despite limitations we are doing our best with a dedicated team of forest guards and rangers carrying out intensive patrolling and hence the decline in poaching incidents in the last couple of years," Kaziranga park warden NK Vasu said.
The report, however, lauded the anti-poaching efforts by park rangers at Kaziranga, a World Heritage Site. "It is notable that although there have not been poaching incidents relating to the elephant or tiger, which share the park with the rhino, the park management should not ignore the possibility of poachers also targeting these species," the report said.
