Nowhere to go: Flood-hit Kaziranga rhino's horn sawed away; body of another found

A female rhinoceros was left bleeding after poachers sawed off its horn and cut off a part of its right ear after shooting at it, while the carcass of another with its horn removed was found at the Kaziranga National Park in Assam's Golaghat district on Wednesday.

The female rhinoceros had strayed on Tuesday night from the flood-hit park around 7pm and a search operation was launched, Divisional Forest Officer Dibyodhar Gogoi told PTI. Gun shots were heard early on Wednesday morning, following which a search of the east division of the Karbi Anglong hills found the pachyderm in a seriously injured state, Gogoi said.

The poachers took away the horn after sawing it off and a part of the right ear and veterinarians were trying to save the rhinoceros, he added. The carcass of another rhinoceros was recovered during the day from the Bagori range of the park with its horn sawed off, park sources said.

While the KNP Director Sanjib Kumar Bora said anti-poaching camp personnel were on high alert in the park, the attack led to the blockade of the National Highway 37 by the locals, All Assam Students Union and Asom Jatiyatabadi Yuba Chatra Parishad activists. The demonstrators burnt the effigies of Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi and Forest minister Rockybul Hussain alleging that they had failed to protect the animals in the park.

The demonstrators also suspected the poachers to be Bangladeshi migrants and alleged that the government had failed to evict them.