GUWAHATI: Poachers shot dead one more full-grown rhinoceros in Kaziranga National Park on Sunday night and took away its horn triggering fresh public protests against the unabated rhino poaching in the national park.
A park official informed that an adult female rhino was shot dead and its horn was cut away from Bagori Range of the park on Sunday night.
With this incident, the number of precious rhinos poached in Kaziranga Park, which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, so far this year has gone up to 33.
The poaching of the rhino triggered a massive public protest on Monday in a fringe area of the Park where protestors severely criticized the State government especially the Forest Minister Rakibul Hussain for failing to protect the rhino that is considered the pride of Assam. A large number of women from the fringe area of the Park took part in the protest.
Assam government with permission from the Central government has already amended the Wildlife Protection Act to enhance the maximum punishment to poachers to life imprisonment. Wildlife offences have been made non-bailable and cognizable.
Under the provisions of Section 197 CrPC, forest officers and staff have been granted immunity from prosecution without prior sanction from the government so that they can go all out against poachers on the prowl.
Moreover, forest staff manning the wild life sanctuaries in the State especially Kaziranga Park has been provided with SLRs replacing age-old .303 rifles. Still, rhino poaching could hardly be checked in Kaziranga.
The state government claims that about 300 well-armed poachers are on the prowl in the vicinity of Kaziranga Park and that many of the poachers are even armed with AK series assault rifles.
Poachers have not spared all other protected rhino habitat in the State namely, Pobitora Wildlife Sanctuary, Manas National Park (another UNESCO Heritage Site) and Rajiv Gandhi Orang National Park in Assam exposing the failure of the state forest department to adequately protect the treasure trove of rhino population in the State.
Meanwhile, a senior forest official deployed in one of the rhino habitat in the State informed that forest officials have found it extremely difficult to maintain the network of fringe village informers on poachers’ movement because of paucity of fund. Though it is extremely important to maintain a well coordinated network on informers to receive real time intelligence inputs on poacher gangs, State government has not made any budgetary provision for providing fund for the purpose.
