Kaziranga: Poachers killed a rhinoceros and managed to escape with its horn in Assam on Sunday after the animal strayed away from the Kaziranga National Park to chaporis or sandbars along the river island in search of food. This is the third rhino death this year.
Forest officials have seized the body of the dehorned rhino, which was found at Lohore Chapori in Majuli district on Sunday morning. A search operation has been launched for the culprits, officials said.
"An adult female rhino was killed and its horn taken away by poachers at Lohore Chapori on Thursday. Nine rounds of .303 empty cartridges have been recovered from the site," said Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) of Kaziranga National Park, Rohini Saikia.
According to the DFO, the rhino went to Majuli district walking over the sandbar of the river Brahmaputra after it had strayed away of the Agaratoli Range of the Kaziranga National Park on February 22.
Wildlife experts say it's natural for rhinos to stray away from the national park in search of food. Notably, there has been a rise in population of rhinos in the park. The carrying capacity for one-horned rhinos in Kaziranga National Park is around 2700.
The first rhino was poached at Daflang camp area of the Bagori range on January 14, but the poachers could not take away its horn, while the second one was killed at Polokata Tapu near Sitamari under Lahorijan forest camp on February 11. Six rhinos were killed in Kaziranga National Park last year.
- With PTI inputs
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