The rare rhinos which roam Kaziranga National Park in north-eastern India have been increasing in numbers, thanks to stronger police efforts against poaching and artificial mud platforms which keep the animals safe from floods.
The rare one-horned rhinos that roam Kaziranga National Park in north-eastern India have been increasing in numbers, thanks to stronger police efforts against poaching and artificial mud platforms which keep the animals safe from floods.
Nearly 400 men using 50 domesticated elephants and drones scanned the park's 500 square kilometres of territory in March and found the rhinos' numbers had increased by more than 12 per cent — neutralising a severe threat to the animals from poaching gangs and monsoon flooding."From the last count in 2018, the number of the rare one-horned rhinoceros at our park has risen by 200. The number of this species at the Kaziranga now stands at 2,613," park director Jatindra Sarma said.
Poachers kill rhinoceroses to take their horns, which are believed to have aphrodisiac properties and are in great demand in clandestine markets in South-East Asia.Monsoon flooding has also killed animals from several other species in Kaziranga, which is spread across the floodplains of the Brahmaputra River in Assam state.
A police task force created last year is armed with weapons as sophisticated as those carried by the poachers, said GP Singh, the officer in charge of the force.Wildlife rangers and security guards carried outdated guns while protecting the park in the past.