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Kaziranga Park acquires anti-poaching vessel to protect
rhinos
by Peter Alex Todd
Kaziranga
(Assam): In order to keep a check on poachers, authorities
at Kaziranga National Park in Assam acquired a floating
anti-poaching squad to patrol the river banks surrounding
the park. Famous for its one-horned rhinoceros, the park
has become an easy target for the poachers who navigate
the Brahmaputra River surrounding the park to enter Kaziranga
and kill the rhinos for their horns. To keep a check on
the entry of the poachers through the river route, authorities
at the park will make use of this vessel to patrol the
river. The vessel costing rupees 1.7 million was purchased
with aid provided by US Fish and Wildlife Service and
Rhino Foundation for Nature, is equipped with modern amenities
and would enable the officials to stay in the vessel for
long hours while patrolling. Equipped with this vessel,
the authorities feel they would be able to ward off the
poachers easily. "There was a shortage of vehicles for
patrolling. We are really grateful to the Rhino Foundation
for providing us with this patrolling vessel," said MC
Malakar, Chief Conservator of Forest (CCF). A total of
12 rhinos have fallen prey to poachers in the recent past.
According to experts, the rhino horns, which are purported
to have aphrodisiac properties, are smuggled to China
and also sold in other Asian markets. Buyers from the
Middle East also use the horns to make ornamental dagger
handles. Estimates suggest that rhino horns can sell for
up to 35,000 dollars a kilogram.
-Jan
10, 2009
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