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arun

 

AZAM SIDDIQUI <azam24x7 wrote:

Link: http://www.telegraphindia.com/1070917/asp/northeast/story_8324034.asp

 

Hunt for rhino calf after poachers kill mother

PULLOCK DUTTA

 

*Guwahati, Sept. 16: *Rangers and forest guards today scoured the sprawling

Kaziranga National Park for a rhino calf whose mother was shot dead by

poachers in a tea estate near its flooded habitat just after midnight on

Saturday.

 

It was the 16th rhino to be killed this year at Kaziranga, which has seen a

resurgence of poachers in recent months.

 

A park official said poachers shot dead the rhino at Hatikhuli tea estate,

contiguous to the sprawling park, around 12:30am. " We rushed there on

hearing gunshots and found the body. The poachers failed to take away the

horn because the rhino slumped into a drain with its head down. They did not

get the chance to pull out the rhino either because our guards were there in

no time. "

 

Once the guards identified the slain rhino as a mother, a search was

immediately launched for the missing calf. " The calf is only a few months

old and, as such, vulnerable to carnivorous animals and floodwaters. We are

using our entire force to locate the calf, " the park official said.

 

The Karbi Anglong forest department has been helping the Kaziranga

management in the rescue operation.

 

Forest guards had mounted a similar operation a few years ago to rescue an

elephant calf swept away by floodwaters. The calf was found after three

days.

 

Of the 16 rhinos killed in the national park this year, 10 were shot inside

the park and six outside it. Three more rhinos were killed elsewhere in the

state.

 

Rhinos stray out of Kaziranga during floods and head for the safety of the

Karbi Anglong hills across National Highway 37. As many as 20 rhinos have

been taking shelter there since floodwaters entered the park.

 

The area where the poachers struck last night is half-a-km from Kohora

police station and in the vicinity of the Paharline camp of the Karbi

Anglong forest department.

 

The president of Bhumi, an NGO working for the protection of animals in the

national park, attributed the incident to negligence. " They (forest staff)

knew poachers were eyeing the 20 rhinos on the foothills of the Karbi

Anglong hills. But they did not take necessary steps, " Uttam Saikia said.

 

Smugglers of rhino horn are known to be hiring hardened criminals to kill

rhinos at the park. A few weeks ago, Bokakhat police arrested five poachers,

including two professionals, from Manipur. The gang admitted to camping in

the park for three days, but failed to make the kill.

 

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