UNESCO’s heritage site Kaziranga National park has now become the killing field as one more one-horned rhinoceros was killed and its horn removed by poachers on Thursday.
Forest officials found the body of the full-grown female rhino at Kukurkata near Kathalchang forest camp under Burapahar forest range office in the park, officials said.
This year poachers have killed 20 rhinos in the park.
“We found the body of the female rhino with her horn removed,” a forest official said.
Forest guards launched a search operation outside the park area along the Karbi hills to nab the poachers.
Kaziranga has lost 65 one-horned rhinoceros this year, where 20 killed by poachers and 23 died due to floods.
For protecting rhino and fighting against poachers, the Assam Forest department recently provided SLRs to the forest guards in the park.
The state forest department deployed 200 frontline staff in the park for protecting animals.
On October 10, Union Environment and Tourism Minister Jayanthi Natarajan visited the world-famous Kaziranga National Park.
The Union minister also announced a Rs 1 crore package for the national park to tackle the flood situation and death of rhinos.
The Union minister said during her visit to the park, there is a need to create a buffer zone to prevent the incidents of man-animal conflict in the area.
Natarajan also reviewed the situation with the forest officials of the park following the rhino poaching incidents.
More than 700 rare one horned rhinos were poached in Kaziranga in the past five decades.
329 rhinos were killed by poachers during 1981 to 1990, 207 poached during 1991 to 2000 and 120 rhinos were killed during 2001 to September 2012.
