MANGALDAI, Oct 13: The organized armed gang of rhino poachers operating in the Orang National Park(ONP) taking the advantage of the recent incident of violence where all the security personnel have been engaged has again started their poaching operation which has been resulted from the killing of an adult rhino in the Park on October 7 last.

The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species has announced that the world

Hinting that there could be a

In their continued intensified operation against the alarmingly increasing incidents of poaching of one-horned rhinos in Orang National Park (ONP), the joint effort of the police and the ONP authority have resulted the arrest of two hardcore rhino poachers and recovery of a 303 rifle from their possession.

The All Assam Students' Union (AASU) will stage a Statewide protest on May 3 in protest against the spurt in rhino poaching. Reiterating that a CBI probe be initiated to get to the roots of the rhino poaching, the AASU said that Forest Minister Rockybul Hussain had proved to be totally incompetent in checking rhino deaths and Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi was turning a blind eye to the developments.

A nine-member expert team headed by Principal Chief Conservator of Forest (PCCF-Wildlife) MC Malakar has started an on-the-spot visit to the Kaziranga National Park (KNP), Pabitora and Orang from today. The expert team visited Pabitora this morning and the KNP in the afternoon. It will visit Orang tomorrow. The committee has been formed by Forest Minister Rockybul Hussain at a meeting yesterday as the killing of rhinos continued unabated in the State.

Following the recent spurt in killing of one-horned rhinos in Orang National Park (ONP) that resulted in deaths of two rhinos on April 20 and 21, one more rhino was killed in the park on the night of April 27. Meanwhile, members of the All Darrang District Students' Union (ADDSU) staged a dharna in front of the office of the DFO, Orang Wildlife Division at Mangaldai yesterday demanding an immediate stop in killing of rhinos.

DALGAON

Contrary to the strict vigilance and protective measures taken by the authorities of Orang National Park for the conservation of the one horned Rhino a fierce encounter took place inside the park between a group of armed poachers and forest staff on the night of April 21, while a female rhino was killed by the poachers.

Assam, India, is one of the last remaining strongholds of the Indian rhino, an animal that is dependent on conservation because of threats from poaching and destruction of habitat. Field research was carried out in Assam to ascertain the current state of the rhino and to evaluate various threats. This paper highlights the latest status of rhino in Assam after the census of 1999, and the intense fieldwork carried out between January 1998 and September 2000. Poaching and floods are both named as major problems that greatly hamper conservation.

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