Guwahati: Poachers injured and decamped with the horn of a rhino in Kaziranga National Park (KNP) on Sunday as another live pachyderm writhed in pain for survival after poachers had dehorned it after injuring it in the Park on Saturday.
In the second similar incident in the KNP in as many days, poachers injured a rhino in Bagori range of the Park and dehorned the live rhino on Sunday.
Forest officials had rushed on hearing gun-shots but the poachers had fled before the guards could reach the spot.
The incident comes even as another rhino was struggling for life in Agratoli range of the Park since Saturday after poachers had shot and injured the animal and dehorned it.
A team of veterinarians today reached the injured pachyderm and started its treatment.
Two similar incidents of poachers dehorning live injured rhinos in the KNP a couple of weeks ago had created sensation across the nation. Both the rhinos had died later.
Union Forest and Environment minister Jayanthi Natarajan had visited KNP on October 10 in the aftermath of increased poaching incidents in this UNESCO World Heritage Site.
With the latest incident of poaching, 13 rhinos have been killed for its horns in KNP this year.
Rhino horns fetch several lakhs of rupees in black market as the horns are believed to have medicinal and healing qualities, though scientific studies have proved otherwise.
The rhino is struggling for life after poachers shot at the animal and chopped off its horn in Assam’s Kaziranga National Park, forest officials said Sunday.
A team of veterinarians was treating the rhino but its chances of survival were bleak, said a park official.
“The animal is unlikely to survive since it has lost a vital organ and has bled severely. It also received two bullet injuries,” said forest conservator S. Bora.
“Some people heard gunshots from the Agaratoli range of the park and we launched a combing operation immediately,” Bora said.
A .303 rifle was also found in the area.
The daring attack on the rhino comes three days after Environment and Forests Minister Jayanthi Natarajan visited Kaziranga following a spurt in incidents of rhino poaching there.
She said on Wednesday that the government would provide an unmanned aircraft and a surveillance system to protect the rhinos and other wildlife from poachers.
She also announced a grant of Rs.1 crore to repair damages caused to the park by the recent floods.
Assam forest department says that till September this year, 39 rhinos were killed, 11 of them by poachers. Assam announced a Rs.Five lakh bounty for information on poachers in Kaziranga and other protected areas. It also said that the CBI would inquire into the incidents of rhino poaching in the state.
In a matter relating to these poaching incidents, a poacher along with six rhino horn dealers have been nabbed in separate arrests made in Assam’s Nagaon and Karbi Anglong districts.
Acting on a tip-off, police arrested the poacher identified as Rajen Ingti, from Kahanbasti in Nagaon district on Saturday, officials said here on Sunday.
Six horn dealers were apprehended from Bokolia and Rojapathar areas in Karbi Anglong district on Friday night when they were returning after allegedly failing to strike a deal from buyers.
The six have been identified as B Jangkha from Nagaland, Sona Dey, Tenjit Terang, Suren Gupta, Babu Timung and Robin Ronghang, sources said.
Meanwhile, search operations were on in and around Kaziranga National Park to nab the poachers involved in the killing of a rhino in Agratoli range of the Park on Saturday.
A total of 42 rhinos have died due to poaching and flood-related incidents in Assam during past one year.(Agencies)