Kaziranga (Assam): A female rhino was shot dead by poachers in Kaziranga National Park, Assam in the first week of this year. The rhino, killed on January 7, was found the next day with its horn intact by the Forest staff.

The Forest Department staff heard gunshots at around 6:00 pm from Daflang and rushed to the spot. Realising perhaps, that the Forest Department had initiated action, the poachers fled the spot without the horn. The rhino carcass was found near Daflang Beel in the next morning.

According to Uttam Saikia, Honorary Wildlife Warden of the national park, “The Forest officials heard four rounds of firing from the Western Range (which is the official name for Bagori). They immediately started their search and fired a few blank gunshots to warn the poachers. Hearing this, possibly, they escaped without the horn.”

The Forest Department has removed the horn and the hooves from the dead rhino, as is the custom, and has stored them in the Department Strong Room. They recovered three .303 rifle bullets from the carcass. Investigation on the case is going on.

Ashok Kumar, Vice Chairman, Wildlife Trust of India, says “Twenty rhinos were poached in Kaziranga last year. The sharp increase in the number of poaching cases in 2007 as compared to the previous years makes it a matter of grave concern.”

In the census conducted by the Forest Department in 2006, the number of rhinos in Kaziranga was counted to about 1855, indicating an increase from the previous figure of 1552 achieved in 1999. The cases of poaching however showed a drastic increase in 2007 as compared to 2006 when only five rhinos were killed. The Greater one-horned rhinoceros (Rhinoceros unicornis), found in the Indian sub-continent, are hunted for their horns which are used in Traditional Chinese Medicines (TCM) or for making traditional ornaments.