GUWAHATI: An one-year female rhino calf was rescued in a critical condition on Saturday morning from Dahgaon village surrounding of Kaziranga fringe area. The calf found trapped in mud was rescued in by the joint team of Kaziranga National Park and Centre for Wildlife Rehabilitation and Conservation (CWRC) after forest guards found her.
CWRC officials said that she was not in sound health and been kept for observation at the CWRC centre, jointly run wildlife care facility of Assam forest department and Wildlife Trust of India (WTI).
Earlier, on August 2 also, forest guards in the Kaziranga National Park (KNP) had rescued a 3-4 days old rhino calf that had lost its mother during the flood.
On August 8, a full-grown rhino was found poached at the north of Meteka beel under Gabrai Anti-poaching camp under Kaziranga Range in the park. The rhino was an adult female and found killed due to gunshot.
“Six round of empty cartridge of .303 rifle were recovered on the spot. The horn of the rhino has taken away by the poacher,” said park officials.
Last year the Assam government raised, trained and deployed a special Rhino Protection Force, consisting of 82 armed personnel tasked with protecting rhinos from poachers.
According to the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), there are approximately 3,500 rhinos in northeast India, with around 2,400 of them in KNP.
This year during the flood, at least 18 rhinos died. At least 153 animals have died in this year’s flood in the KNP area.
Watch the rescue operation here: (Source: KNP authority)
