Five alleged poachers were arrested on Sunday for killing an adult male rhino in Assam’s Kaziranga National Park on Saturday and sawing off its horn. Kaziranga guards had early on Saturday morning found the carcass of the rhino near Sukani anti-poaching camp in the park’s Agratoli Range. Poachers had in 2018 killed six rhinos in Kaziranga, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and also a Tiger Reserve. The trend has been declining since 2016 when 14 rhinos were killed in the park by poachers. The rhino census carried out in the 430 sq km Kaziranga in March 2018 had estimated the one-horned animal’s population at 2,413, marginally up from 2,401 during the previous census in 2015.

Source: The Hindu February 18, 2019 04:40 UTC