From Our Correspondent
Guwahati: Poachers gunned down a full-grown female rhino and took way its horn in the famous Kaziranga National Park (KNP) in the wee hours of Tuesday.
A forest official informed that the carcass of the rhino was found just about 150 meter away from Chirang forest camp in Burapahar Range of the sprawling national park.
With Tuesday’s killing, the number of rhinos poached in the national park so far this year rose to four. Out of these poachers managed to decamp with three horns.
A source informed forest guards at Chirang camp in Burapahar Range of the Park heard sounds of three rounds gun fire at around 1:30 am on Tuesday and raised the alarm besides replying the fire. Search was launched and the carcass was finally spotted sans the horn at around 4-30 am on Tuesday morning just about 150 meters away from Chirang forest camp. No one was arrested so far as the poachers apparently conducted a smooth operation under the nose of forest guards.
A search team of forest personnel later recovered the carcass of a female rhino whose horn had been taken gorged away by the poachers, just about 150 meters away from Chirang forest camp at around 4-30 A.M.
Total 11 rhinos were killed by poachers in the Park last year. Kaziranga National Park has the largest population of endangered one-horned Indian rhinoceros in the globe. According to the last rhino census carried out the number of rhinos in Kaziranga Park was put at 2048.
