Guwahati: Poachers gunned down a full-grown rhino in Kaziranga National Park (KNP) at around 1 am on Wednesday at Tunikati Forest camp area of Burhapahar Range of the UNESCO World Heritage site despite the round the clock vigil carried out by the forest personnel and the Special Task Force (STF).
A forest official in the KNP informed that the poachers managed to cut away the horn of the poached female rhino. The forest personnel recovered about 11 empty cartridges of AK-47 assault rifle and Insas
Rifle near the carcass of the slain rhino. The recovery indicates use of sophisticated weapons by the gangs of rhino poachers on the prowl in Kaziranga Park
The poaching occurred just 24 hours after a poacher was gunned down by the Special Task Force (STF) personnel in nearby by KarbiAnglong hill areas during an anti-poachers operation.
Meanwhile, the Central government has agreed to the Assam Forest Department’s proposal for use of drones to mount vigil against rhino poachers in Kaziranga National Park. Forest minister Promila Rani
Brahma informed that the approval given the Union government would soon pave the way for deployment of drones in the national park which is considered the abode of one-horned Indian rhinoceros.
As per the last rhino census carried out in the year 2015, Kaziranga National Park had 2401 rhinos.
