A former poacher in Kaziranga, Assam, reveals why the animal is being hunted . Teresa Rehman in Tehelka.
25 rhinos killed in Assam in the past 13 months, 20 in Kaziranga.
81 rhinos died of natural causes in the same period.
$35,000: The price of a rhino horn in the international market, mainly in China, where it’s considered an aphrodisiac.
A RARE success story in India’s wildlife conservation record, Assam’s Kaziranga National Park, home to the one-horned Asiatic Rhinoceros and a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is struggling to come to grips with a spurt in rhino killings. Twenty rhinos were poached last year, 14 of them inside the national park and the rest in areas just outside the sanctuary. The forest department has come up with the usual excuses of being understaffed and under-equipped, but the retrenchment of casual workers in the park, leaving scores without livelihood and angry at the government apathy, has also played its damaging part.
Recent Comments