3 more rhino carcass recovered in Kaziranga

Three more rhinos were found dead on Monday in the flood waters of the Kaziranga National Park which has witnessed a sudden rise in poaching activities in the last few weeks.

While eight rhinos in the park have so far died in the ongoing third wave of floods which began on September 26 last, another five rhinos were killed and their horns taken away  by poachers during the period.

While two bodies of the endangered Great Indian Rhinoceros were found floating in the water in the Park's Bagori Range another was found in Kohora Range, park authorities said.

Stating that the rhinos had died due to floods and were not killed by poachers, the authorities said, the horns of the three rhinos were intact and were handed over to the forest department.

In the first wave of floods during June-July last, 19 rhinos were among 631 animals killed in Kaziranga. Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi on Sunday told reporters that in 2012, a total of 14 rhinos were killed by poachers in Kaziranga, while another 27 died due to drowning during the three waves of flood.

Meanwhile, a four-member team of the Wildlife Crime Control Bureau was probing into the killing of rhinos by poachers in KNP by visiting different parts of the 430 sq km Park and also neighbouring Karbi Anglong district.