“Only just posted a story about the crackdown on poachers…yet here we are with another just killed! The only way to stop the poaching is for more more guards to patrol the park. I just don’t understand why, when it’s been proven that Rhino horn has no medicinal values; do they still take it?? I know it was tradition, but are people in the 21st Century still so stupid as to think it works like some kind of magic? Get some sort of media campaign going to explain to the people that they might as well take rat bones, as Rhino horn is useless for medicinal purposes. Target the shop’s that sell these stupid potions etc. Get more troops on the ground & shoot to kill poachers! Watch the video below, from last year; concerning poaching etc.”
Kaziranga: A rhino was shot dead and its horns taken away by poachers in Kaziranga National Park, taking the total number of rhinos being killed this year to nine, Park officials said today.
Information purposes only
Patrollingforest guards came across the bullet-riddled body of a male mature rhinonear Kawoimari forest camp in Bagori range of the Park this morning, they said. “Is this saying the body was found near a forest camp for the rangers? If so, surely they could have jumped into action as soon as shots were heard??”
The forest guards also found two .303 rifles and several rounds of ammunition from the spot, they said.
A massive search operation with sniffer dogs has been launched in the area to nab the poachers, they said. This is the ninth incident of rhino being killed in the Park since January this year.
Meanwhile, a walkathon was organised by Kaziranga University in association with Assam government’s Forest department as a part of the campaign to stop poaching of one-horned rhinoceros.It was participated byAssamese cine star Nishita Goswami, Arjuna Awardee Arjun Bhogeswar Baruah, Guinness Book World Record Holder Abhijeet Baruah along with several people from school, colleges and sports persons.
Also, forest guards found two .303 rifles from Bishwanath Bhola Chapori in Sonitpur district. The two rifles were found in the jungles near the northern bank of river Brahmaputra, a part of Kaziranga National Park’s sixth addition, forest officials said.
The arms recovered today was suspected to have been used by poachers who killed a rhino and removed its horn in the Park’s western range, where two rifles and several rounds of ammunitions were already recovered.
A massive search operation was on to nab the poachers who were suspected to have escaped to the northern side of the Park, sources added.
Endangered rhino: Displaced by floods, killed by poachers
Published on 30 Sep 2012
For years NDTV has been bringing you the Save our Tigers campaign, an effort that’s gone a long way in protecting our national animal. Tonight, we focus on another desperate situation, the condition of another endangered animal – the great one horned rhino – which is being decimated in Assam by machine gun wielding poachers, who are taking advantage of the flood emergency in the state.
Armed with sophisticated weapons, the security forces launched the operation at 2 AM today at Kukurakota area of the range, forest department sources said.
A battalion each from theIndia Reserve Battalion (IRBN) and state police, with 100 personnel of the forest department, including guards, have fanned out in the interior areas of the rhino habitat to net poachers.
Security measures have also been tightened inside and along the park’s boundary to prevent entry and attacks by poachers in the 430 sq kms World Heritage Site situated in Golaghat district of upper Assam, the sources said.
The crackdown was launched in the wake of poaching of eight rhinos in KNP since January this year. Rhino horn is prized for its aphrodisiac properties.
The state government has decided to divide KNP into four divisions under separate divisional forest officers to strengthen the management system and boost operational efficiency.
Shoot-at-sight orders could be considered in the Park to prevent poaching of rhinos and other wild animals, state Minister for Environment and Forest Rockybul Hussain has said.
Kaziranga National Park largely falls within the Brahmaputra River flood plains and gets inundated annually in the rainy season. The floods take a heavy toll on wildlife including rhinos. In addition to death by drowning and displacement on being washed away, increased rhino poaching has also been associated with these floods as the escaping animals are highly vulnerable when they move out of the park in search of higher ground.
WTI-IFAW‘s Rhino Rehabilitation Project aims to gradually repopulate rhinos in Manas, by relocating and rehabilitating orphaned or displaced hand-raised rhinos from Kaziranga National Park. This effort is supported by the Bodoland Territorial Council and the Assam Forest Department.This clip documents the process of the reintroduction of the displaced rhinos.
“With the recent tragic deaths of 4 more Rhino being killed, (literally for the same thing our finger nails grow of,) this video shows just how much the rhino suffer at poachers hands. One might think taking off the horn with an electric saw or similar would not have much effect on the rhino, if done properly & professionally by vets, it doesn’t…but when done by ugly poachers who don’t care about the rhino after they have their treasure etc. it has a huge impact of their survival rate.
Remember Themba & Thandi, (links below) the 2 rhino found wandering around with their horns hacked off. Sadly Themba (HOPE) suffered a leg injury on the night he was poached and as a result of infection passed away on the morning of the 26 of March 2012 . six months after their brutal attack, Thandi continues to show incredible fighting strength and miraculous recovery, she was one of a very few, lucky ones.”
http://bit.ly/V47Kxy. This video presents an animation that seeks to replicate the anatomical impact of rhino-horn poaching, drawing on experience with the rhinos that were poached at the Kariega Game Reserve.
Rhinos are being injured and killed at an alarming rate to satisfy the illegal trade in rhino horn. This video is intended to draw attention to new, freely-available anatomical resources that can help in the treatment and care of rhinoceroses, as well as in the education of the public.
We scanned the head completely from front to back with slices only 300 microns (= 0.3 mm = 0.0118 inches) thick. The subject was Kehtla, a male white rhinoceros well known to generations of Phoenix, AZ, residents. In 1963, he was brought as a two-year-old from Natal, South Africa, to the Phoenix Zoo.
He passed away from cancer in 2003 at the age of 42. At that time, his head was air-freighted to WitmerLab for anatomical study. We removed the horns for a study published in 2006 (http://bit.ly/bnlspj) on how rhino horns grow and attach to the skull.
To generate this movie, four different CT scan datasets were assembled by Ryan Ridgely using Avizo (http://on.fb.me/GZMmoi).
“I initially only added the last video, as it was very informative about rhino numbers etc. But then I found the first one from the KARIEGA Game Reserve, these incidents happened this year!Both videos are disturbing & I warn viewers to watch at their own discretion. However, to stop this war on rhino’s, I think it’s important that people see what is happening & be knowledgeable in the fact that the rhino horn is no more medicinal than my own finger nails. Knowledge is a great thing, so I ask that you share this information far & wide…we have to make those who demand rhino horn, see that it is worthless to anyone; except the rhino.”
The female rhino was killed in Bagori range of the Park and its horns taken away by the poachers, Park Director Sanjiv Bora said.
Patrolling forest guards found the fully mature rhino and some cartridges near the dead animal.
Eight people suspected to be involved in the killing have been picked up for interrogation.
This is the eleventhrhino killed in the Park by poachers during the current year.
FIRST RELEASE OF VIDEO FOOTAGE-KARIEGA RHINOS MONDAY 12 MARCH 2012
We are releasing the first of several video‘s taken by the team on the ground ,starting with this one taken at KARIEGA GAME RESERVE on Friday 2 March 2012. Although this footage is quite shocking, we believe that the unbelievable courage shown in the fight for survival of our two Rhino’s Themba and Thandi must be shown to the world!
Furthermore, we will be shortly releasing a video message made by our ranger team on the ground titled UNITED WE STAND showing their utter horror to this scourge plaguing our country, and how extremely dedicated they all are to the continued survival of Thandi and Themba!
As a whole, the world’s five species of rhinos make up the most endangered large animal group on the planet. This is due to relentless and vicious illegal poaching of rhino for their horns for use in Traditional Asian Medicine. Melinda MacInnis has made this video in the hopes of raising awareness about this global crisis. Please share this video widely and join the fight to halt rhino extinction.
Dhara is now being cared for at IFAW’s Wildlife Rescue Center in the outskirts of Kaziranga National Park. The x-ray showed that Dhara is suffering from a knee dislocation on her left front leg.
She is about eight months old, and was found alone.
We believe she was displaced from her herd during the floods in the park.
An iron-reinforced cast was fixed on her leg to immobilize the joint for the next 21 days. The vets at the Center will review the wound after the stipulated time to see the progress.
In the meantime the calf is being looked after by the vets, animal keepers and two volunteers from the UK. They provide the calf with milk nine times a day and a healthy dose of food supplements.
Dhara pokes her head out of the nursery building. Credit: IFAW/S.Bararuah
Dhara is very active despite the pain in her leg. She always keeps on exploring the enclosure and tries to climb up to the window to peep through and see if there is someone out there with food. And when the food comes she starts shouting out impatiently.
She looks awfully cute throwing baby tantrums to her keepers.
Even though she’s just a little calf, I felt that it was an elephantine task to tranquilize it, transport it to the center’s clinic, X ray her and fit an iron cast on her leg.
Now we’re all waiting for the 21stday of treatment when the vets will remove the cast to see the progress. I hope she regains her strength and is able to walk freely soon.
Stay tuned for more updates on Dhara coming soon. Many have asked how they can help support our efforts, and you can do so by donating here.
Guwahati: Assam Forest Minister Rockybul Hussain Saturday said the government had asked experts to work out a mechanism to reduce animaldeaths duringfloods.
However, we have asked people involved with wildlife preservation and protection to see if we can workout a mechanism to reduce animal casualties,” the minister said.
Floods hit Kaziranga June 26 and almost the entire park was flooded. On June 29, the waters were flowing 1.44 metres above the danger level.
The park is still flooded but the waters are flowing below the danger mark, the minister said.
The national park lost 559 animals in floods this year including 14 one–hornedrhinos, an elephant and many other species. A total of 475 Hog Deer also died.
“The park witnessed severe floods in 1988, 1998, 2004 and 2008. While we lost 1,203 animals in 1988, 652 died in 1998. This year, we have lost 559 animals,” Hussain said.
He appreciated the effort of the locals in rescuing wildlife.
Kaziranga, spread over 860 sq km, is a UNESCO world heritage site and famous for one-horned rhinos. According to the rhino census of April this year, the park has 2,290 one-horned rhinos.
Nearly 70 per cent of theKaziranga National Parkwas flooded in the current spell of rains, which claimed the lives of two rhinos and 22hog deer. Speeding vehicles killed 17 hog deer till Friday. The park authorities have so far rescued and released 56 hog deer and eight swamp deer.
Assam Forest offcials rescue an adult deer from a flood-affected region at Bagori range of Kaziranga National Park in Nagaon district of Assam on Friday.
KNP Director Sanjib Kumar Bora told The Hindu that the magnitude of the flood in the park this time was higher than that of 2004, but all efforts were on to protect the wild animals from the flood fury.
Migration
He said elephant herds of the park started migrating to highlands on the southern side towards Nagaon, Golaghat, and Karbi Anglong followed by herds of hog deer. Rhinos can survive in water.
Mr. Bora said Section 144 had been promulgated, restricting the speed of vehicles plying along National Highway 37 that passes through the park, and time cards had been introduced to enforce a speed limit of 40km/hour, in cooperation with the police and local NGOs and general public.
Positive aspect
The KNP director, however, said the flood this time was expected to recharge the wetlands of the park, and rejuvenate grasslands and other areas.
Authorities in the Kaziranga National Park have taken steps to protect the animals, including the prized one-horn rhinos, there
“Of the 168 camps in the park, flood water has affected 36 camps. We have set up a special camp in the northern range of the Park where rescued animals would be released”, Park’s director Sanjib Bora said.
He said that the rising waters of the Brahmaputra had forced many animals to cross the National Highway 37 and flee to the southern side near the Karbi Anglong hills for shelter.
“The district authorities have imposed prohibitory orders under section 144 Cr PC along the highway so that poachers and other miscreants do not get an opportunity to harm the animals”, Bora said.
He further added that vehicles plying on the highway would be issued “time cards” so that they did not loiter for long in the area.
The park remains closed from May till October during the rainy season in Assam.
JORHAT: An adult femaleleopardwas beaten to death in a retaliatory act byvillagers at Elengi Kharkhowagaon in Titabor sub-division of Jorhat district on Thursday night. The leopard had attacked the villagers earlier, leaving two of them critically injured.
Forest beat officer (Titabor) Lakhinath Boruah said, “We found the carcass of an adult female leopard at Elengi Kharkhowagaon on Thursday night. The animal was about seven years old and it had sustained grievous injuries.”
He added, “The big cat had earlier attacked two persons in the village and injured them, creating a panic situation in the area. The locals then came out in large numbers with sharp weapons to kill the animal. They attacked the leopard and beat it todeath on the spot. The big cat lost its legs and was even beheaded.”
He added that forest officials rushed to the spot on receiving the information, but it was too late. The animal was dead by the time they reached the spot. Boruah added that an investigation has been launched to nail the guilty persons, but the main culprits are yet to be identified.
On April 10, a woman names Komoli Gowala was killed in a leopard attack in Titabor area. Komoli was a tea worker and she was attacked by the big cat while working in the garden. Later, forest staffs trapped the 12-year-old female leopard in a cage and it was shifted to Kaziranga National Park.
DUE TO THE NATURE OF THIS BLOG - SOME PICTURES & VIDEOS CAN & WILL BE VERY GRAPHIC - SO PLEASE, VIEW THIS BLOG AT YOUR OWN DISCRETION.
You can find out more about me & this blog by reading "ABOUT THIS BLOG" on the menu (when i finish it) lol
PLEASE NOTE.....
Not all of my posts will be current news, or even about animal abuse! I do like to share other animal news, uplifting stories or videos; some that are funny or just touch the heart!
If I have anything to say on any post, you will see it in bold blue writing. I try to remain a lady, but it's hard to contain my anger & emotions at the some of the stories I post; I don’t have a heart of stone, tears stain many articles I write!
Lastly, my apologies for any errors; I am learning whilst posting, so if you find anything that doesn't work or a broken link, sorry, I'm only human!!!!
ABOUT THESE POSTS
I would just like to make readers aware, that I search for stories on the internet; regards animal abuse etc. I copy stories etc. from the internet; assuming these stories are correct at time of publishing. Having said that, sometimes the press get it wrong! So I just want to add that at the time of me posting a news story, I presume all the facts seem present & correct.
Please note....all people mentioned in this blog, are presumed innocent, until proven otherwise, in a court of law.
For anyone wishing to connect to me via my Facebook page...PLEASE NOTE, ONLY PEOPLE I ADD AS ANIMAL ADVOCATES CAN SEE MY WHOLE PAGE...I do this out of respect for those friends I have who do not wish to see graphic images, videos or links of animal abuse!
As 99% of my page is animal related; anyone not in the above group of friends; will only see a limited amount of posts!!
DUE TO ANIMAL HATERS...I WILL ONLY ADD PEOPLE WHO CAN PROVE WHO THEY ARE via Facebook, Wordpress, Twitter etc. & WHO HAVE A GENUINE INTEREST IN ANIMAL WELFARE... i.e. if your Facebook page has absolutely nothing to do with animals, I see no point in joining my page. My Facebook is solely for animal welfare, I am not interested in playing games etc. I don't mean to sound rude but I am not interested in the amount of friends I have, its the quality of those friends that count.
PLEASE DO NOT SEND REQUESTS FOR YOUR FRIENDS TO JOIN. I do not want anyone to be upset by graphic images etc.
My aim is to educate & raise awareness to the horrors animals face, at the hands of humans, every day, around the world!!
We can not hope to achieve better laws, to protect animals, unless we unite as one, to speak up for those who are voiceless!!
.
Dhara pokes her head out of the nursery building. Credit: IFAW/S.Bararuah
DUE TO THE NATURE OF THIS BLOG - SOME PICTURES & VIDEOS CAN & WILL BE VERY GRAPHIC - SO PLEASE, VIEW THIS BLOG AT YOUR OWN DISCRETION.
STOP ANIMAL ABUSE 
You must be logged in to post a comment.