143 rhinos poached in Kaziranga in 12 yrs
By Hemanta Kumar Nath, Guwahati, Mar 9 : A total of 143 one horned rhinoceros were killed at the Assam's Kaziranga National Park (KNP) in past 12 years, Assam government said.
In a reply to a question at the Assam legislative assembly, Assam forest minister Rockybul Hussain said that from 2001 to 2013 up to February, total 143 one horned rhinos had been poached in Kaziranga.
During the period, poachers killed 10 rhinos in 2001, 5 in 2002, 6 in 2003, 5 in 2004, 12 in 2005, 9 in 2006, 19 in 2007, 12 in 2008, 14 in 2009, 8 in 2010, 9 in 2011, 22 in 2012 and 12 in 2013 up to the month of February.
The state forest minister said that, during the period, forest guards killed 54 poachers and apprehended 549 poachers against the anti-poaching operation in the KNP.
"Forest guards had nabbed 32 poachers in 2001, 22 in 2002, 12 in 2003, 36 in 2004, 56 in 2005, 57 in 2006, 35 in 2007, 40 in 2008, 31 in 2009, 49 in 2010, 20 in 2011, 148 in 2012 and 11 in this year up to the month of February," the minister said.
"The forest department had deployed 300 jawans of Assam Forest Protection Force (AFPF) in Kaziranga to protect wild animals and fight against poachers," Hussain said.
Several organizations including WWF-India had raised their voice against rhino killings in Kaziranga and urged by the state government and the forest department to take necessary action to protect wild animals in the world heritage site.
Meanwhile, the state government and forest department have announced that, the government will be providing AK series rifles to the forest guards in Kaziranga to fight against poachers, who had used AK series rifles in recent rhino killings in the park.