Kuki NGO To Prevent Rhino Poaching
A general meeting held last week at its office of The Kuki National Assembly, addressed development issues in the Kuki dominated areas of Karbi Anglong autonomous district.
One of the issues discussed was the increasing occurrence of rhino poaching in Kaziranga National Park.
Kuki National Assembly is the peak social body for the Kuki community in Karbi Anglong. The organization is based in Manja township, 16 kilometres from Diphu.
The organization expressed dismay over the wholesale poaching of wild animals in local reserve forests and sanctuaries throughout Assam. They are particularly concerned about the one horned rhino.
The government has not been able to slow the rate of rhino poaching, so the organization has decided to take measures to curb poaching through close coordination with the NGO “Save Wild Life for Economic Growth.”
Save Wild Life for Economic Growth was formed a few years back, mostly by KNA members.
At the general meeting, it was decided that any Kuki villager found involved in wild life poaching will be considered persona non grata and ejected from the village. To help protect the forest and wild life the NGO will undertake an intensive poster campaign.
“We badly need some logistics like vehicles and financial support to prevent rhino poaching inside Kaziranga because a sizable number of poachers based at Churachandpur district of Manipur operate in the core areas of the sanctuary with the help of the allegedly illegal Bangladeshi immigrants who help them to set up hideouts for concealing arms and weapons and to process the poached horn of the rhino; women belonging to the Bangladeshi immigrant society conceal rhino horns inside their cover all dress and use veils to smuggle out rhino horn from Assam screening their identity. The operatives vend rhino horn mainly to China and Arab nations; with a little support from the authority, we can wipe out their network,” Tongthang Touthang, KNA President told this reporter after the meeting.
The “Save Wild Life for Economic Growth” NGO with active help from the Kuki National Assembly has been instrumental in preventing rhino poaching inside Kaziranga national park since 2012 when a large number of poachers were arrested and a large quantity of arms and ammunition was seized by the Karbi Anglong police Special Investigation Team, assisted by this NGO. One of the poachers was a Myanmar national.
See also: Kuki National Assembly Appeals for Peace
