The Assam forest department has faced a new challenge to protect one-horned Rhinoceros in the state after a case of poachers using tranquillizers to remove rhino horn has come to light in Assam’s Orang National Park on Monday.
According to the reports, poachers chopped off the horn without killing a sub-adult rhino in the national park.
The park officials knew about the incident on May 9 and found dehorned a sub-adult male rhino, aged between 10-12 years in the Muwamari area inside the park.
Pradipta Baruah, Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) of Mangaldai wildlife division told ANI, following the incident the PCCF (Wildlife), Chief Wildlife Warden and a veterinary doctor team of Assam State Zoo had visited the park and confirmed that poachers had used tranquilizer gun.
“This is the first instance of poaching a rhino horn using tranquilizer gun in Orang National Park. There was no bullet injury found on the Rhino. Initially, we thought that, it to be a case of infighting, but when we closely monitored along with experts it suggested that it is a poaching case and the horn was axed away,” Pradipta Baruah said.
He further said that the rhino’s condition is now stable and healthy.
“It has become a big threat to the wildlife in Assam, especially one-horned rhinoceros, that poachers have used a tranquilizer gun to poach rhino horn. We have suspected that, veterinary experts might be involved in this incident, because only veterinary experts know the use of drugs for tranquilizing an animal. The tranquilizer gun, drugs are not also available in open market, so we have to investigate this case properly,” the DFO said.
The Orang National Park and Tiger Reserve has counted 125 rhinos in the recently concluded rhino census. (ANI)
