(IN): Poison bullet haul at park- One shot can kill a rhino or an elephant, say experts

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http://www.telegraphindia.com/1090420/jsp/northeast/story_10845432.jsp

 

Poison bullet haul at park

- One shot can kill a rhino or an elephant, say expertsA STAFF REPORTER

 

*Guwahati, April 19*: Poachers have developed poison bullets to kill

animals, after digging pits and using high voltage power lines.

 

Police recovered 10 improvised single-barrelled muzzle guns (SBMGs) with

several rounds of poison-tipped bullets from a farmhouse located on the

fringe of Nameri National Park in Sonitpur district last night.

 

The police have also launched an operation in several villages near

Kaziranga National Park after receiving information that another consignment

of guns and poison-tipped bullets was hidden in the vicinity of the park.

 

The officer in-charge of Jamugurihat police station in Sonitpur district,

Naba Bora, said one of the bullets could kill an animal as large as an

elephant or a rhino with just one shot, irrespective of where it hit the

animal.

 

“The tips of the bullets are poisoned and can kill a rhino or an elephant,

even if the animal is not hit at a vital spot,” Bora said.

 

Poachers generally target vital organs through the head or between the two

forelegs.

 

A rhino could survive for several months if the poachers’ bullets do not hit

the right spot. It may ultimately die of infection, though.

 

“But if a rhino or an elephant gets hit by these poison-tipped bullets, it

will bring instant death, maybe within 10 minutes,” Bora said.

 

The recovery of the consignment of arms and ammunition came after the police

picked up three persons near Nameri National Park a few days ago.

 

The consignment was kept at a small farmhouse near the national park.

 

“It is a well-knit gang of poachers with international connections,” the

police official said. He added that most of the gang members are from

Nagaland and Manipur.

 

“The gang has local connections and charts out its plans at these small

farmhouses on the fringes of the park,” he said.

 

Forest officials said they had heard of the poachers using poison-tipped

arrows to kill small animals but never heard of the poisoned bullets.

 

“The gang must have international connections to improvise the new

technique,” a forest official at Kaziranga said.

 

He added that he had heard of poachers using poisoned arrows to kill

elephants at Kenyan game reserves.

 

Poachers also use high-tension power lines to kill rhinos in the game

reserves of Assam. There have been instances of poachers using telescopic

rifles with special armour-piercing ammunition.

 

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