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Wildlife Police Stations to Deal Exclusively with Rhino Poaching

11/12/2013

Source: Thehindu.com

By Sushanta Talukdar

Assam will set up four wildlife police stations to exclusively deal with the problem of rhino poaching and other wildlife crimes. The jurisdiction of these special police stations would be over the Kazairanga National Park, the Manas National Park, the Rajiv Gandhi Orang National Park and the Pabitora Wildlife Sanctuary.

The decision to set up the police stations were taken during a meeting convened by Assam Environment and Forest Minister Rakibul Hussain here on Monday to discuss measures to deal with rising incidents of poaching of rhinos in the State. Director General of Police (DGP) Jayanto Narayan Chouhdury and top officials of the Forest Department attended the meeting.

Training to be imparted

The meeting also decided that the Assam Police would impart training to Quick Response Teams of Assam Forest Protection Force . The meeting also explored other measures like fast tracking investigation and trial cases of poaching and other wildlife crimes.

The number of rhinos killed and dehorned by poachers in the State since January has gone up to 35 with them killing two rhinos at the Orang National Park on Saturday. Since January, poachers have killed 26 rhinos at the Kaziranga National Park, four at the Manas National Park, three at the Orang National Park and two at the Pabitora Wildlife Sanctuary.

The DGP told The Hindu the four wildlife police stations would be jointly manned by the Assam Police and the Assam Forest Protection Force. “These police stations will deal exclusively with wildlife crimes and will have jurisdictions over Kaziranga, Manas, Orang and Pabitora. We also discussed various other measures like how to build up a data base on wildlife crimes, intelligence sharing and better investigation and prosecution, taking forensic assistance to effectively deal with wildlife crimes.” More....

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Manas Rhino Loses Life and Horn

10/30/2013

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Source: IN.news.yahoo.com

Poachers killed a one-horned rhino in Assam's Manas National Park and decamped with its horn even as forest guards gunned down a poacher in a separate incident inside the sanctuary.

The incident occurred Tuesday evening at Bhuyanpara range in the park, officials said Wednesday adding although the forest guards launched an operation against the poachers immediately they failed to retrieve the horn.

"We heard three rounds of firing from inside the park yesterday (Tuesday) evening and launched an operation immediately. Later, we found a female rhino with its horn removed," said a senior official.

In another incident that took place in a different location inside the park, forest guards killed a poacher Tuesday.

"We recovered bullets of AK series rifle from the body of the rhino," the officials said, adding this indicated the poachers were armed with sophisticated weapons.

This is the sixth rhino to be killed by poachers inside the park this year.

Officials said the killed rhino was brought from the Pabitora Wildlife Sanctuary of the state last year as part of the ongoing rhino translocation programme and it gave birth to a calf in Manas last year.

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation declared Manas National Park a World Heritage site in December 1985. However, in 1992, the park was declared a "World Heritage Site in Danger" due to heavy poaching and terrorist activities. More....

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Another Rhino Poached in Assam’s Kaziranga Park

10/8/2013

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Source: Indileak.com

Mere rhetoric is not sufficient, action on ground is what is actually needed to save the wildlife especially the rhinos of Asaam from the cruel hands of greedy poachers. Barely a day after the Assam chief minister Tarun Gogoi talked of stringent measure to curb poaching, yet another rhino was killed by the poachers in state’s Kaziranga National Park on Tuesday.

According to the Park director NK Vasu, the wildlife guards recovered a carcass of a male rhino from Agaratoli range of the park on Monday. “The horn was missing, which indicated it to be a case of poaching. We have also recovered bullets of a .303 rifle from near the carcass,” said the park director.

A forest official pleading anonymity said that the forest guards found the carcass of rhino when they smelt stench emanating from the bushes in the area. This in itself proves that the animal was killed a few days back, pointed out the official.

This year alone over 30 one-horned rhinos have been killed by poachers. As per official figures, at least 22 rhinos have been killed in Kaziranga, three have been killed in Manas national park and one in Pabitora wildlife sanctuary this year.

The Assam government recently launched a project to install thermal cameras inside the Kaziranga National Park to detect the movement of poachers. The government also set up an elite unit – Assam Forest Protection Force (AFPF) – and equipped them with AK-series rifles to combat the fire power of poachers who usually are equipped with sophisticated weapons.

The fresh incident of poaching calls for intensive patrolling coupled with gathering intelligence for locals about the movement of poachers to effectively deal with the menace.

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Rhino Poaching Increases in India's Great Park

3/29/2013

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Source: Asiasentinel.com

By Nava Thakuria

The depredations by poachers of rhinoceros horns in India's enormous Kaziranga National Park have grown so great that the government is expected to begin patrolling with a surveillance drone in the effort to combat criminals targeting the park's teeming wildlife.

The park lies in Assam, which is geographically close to the countries which have great demand for rhino horns. Kaziranga lost 22 of the prized animals to poachers in 2012. The pace is picking up. Another 17 have lost their lives and horns to rustlers just since Jan. 1. The Indian Union environment and forest ministry has thus now ratified a proposal from the Assam government for a conservation drone for the park, which shelters 2,329 one-horned rhinoceros. The great beasts are fast losing their habitat across the world because of climate change and human encroachment, making the park an enormously important sanctuary.

The 430 square-km reserve has more than150 anti-poaching camps located within it. Many forest guards have sacrificed their lives fighting the poachers, with so far 54 poachers killed. More than 550 have been apprehended by the authorities over the past decade.

In addition to the unmanned surveillance aircraft, the Assam government has also opted for satellite-based high power electronic-eye cameras to attempt to trace the movement of outsiders. Similarly the provincial government is waiting for approval from the Union home and defense ministries for operating the drones, which can be directed by their operators from offices on the ground. The drones can be programmed to fly at an elevation of nearly 200 meters, with their high-definition cameras helping forest officials to trace the poachers. But this series of drones does not have the capacity to strike, as do military drones.

"These drones will only transmit pictures, but finally they are expected to work as a great deterrent to the poachers," said the Forest Protection Minister. He also said many African nations including Kenya are actively considering using these drones in their forest reserves.

The use of drones has skyrocketed across a wide range of operations having nothing to do with their military uses, ranging from tracking animals, weather monitoring, measuring the health of plants and many others as the devices have grown ever more sophisticated. They can weigh anywhere from a few ounces to tons and can cost anywhere between US$2,000 and millions of dollars. More....

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Rhino Poaching in Kaziranga--A Hazardous Play

3/23/2013

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Source: Easternpanorama.in

Kaziranga National Park in the Golahat and Nagaon districts of the state of Assam is a world heritage site, the park hosts two-thirds of the world’s Great One-horned Rhinoceros. Kaziranga boasts the highest density of tigers among protected areas in the world and was declared a Tiger Reserve in 2006. The park is home to large breeding populations of elephants, wild water buffalo, and swamp deer. Kaziranga is recognized as an Important Bird Area by Birdlife International for conservation of avifaunal species. Compared to other protected area in India, Kaziranga has achieved notable success in wildlife conservation. Located on the edge of the Eastern Himalaya bio-diversity hotspot, the park combines high species diversity and visibility.

Kaziranga is a vast expanse of tall elephant grass, marshland, and dense tropical moist broadleaf forests, crisscrossed by four major rivers, including the Brahmaputra, and the park includes numerous small bodies of water. Kaziranga has been the theme of several books, songs and documentaries. The park celebrated its centennial in 2005 after its establishment in 1905 as a reserve forest.

According to the rhino census conducted last year, there were a total of 2,505 rhinos in Assam, including 22 rhinos in Manas National Park. However, the major concentration of rhino was in Kaziranga with a count of 2,290 rhinos followed by 93 in Pabitora Wildlife Sanctuary in Morigaon district and another 10 in the Rajiv Gandhi National Park at Orang in Darrang district of Assam.

Over 40 one-horned rhinos were killed in 2012 in Assam. While close to 30 rhinos were killed in various protected areas due to devastating floods, more than 12 were killed by poachers, including seven of them killed inside the high security Kaziranga National Park. The poachers, who kills the rare, one horned rhinoceros for its prized horn, whose price in the International market varies from Rs 40 Lakhs to Rs 90 Lakhs. More...

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Wildlife Police Stations to Deal Exclusively with Rhino Poaching

Manas Rhino Loses Life and Horn

Another Rhino Poached in Assam’s Kaziranga Park

Rhino Poaching Increases in India's Great Park

Rhino Poaching in Kaziranga--A Hazardous Play

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