Kaziranga finds it hard to keep rhinos confined

Poachers,on the other hand,take advantage of the situation and target rhinos. “The common people also cause a lot of harm to rhinos by pelting stones and attacking them when they enter villages or paddy fields,” Sarma said.

The forest officer said the three rhinos that had strayed last week swam across the Brahmaputra first to Majuli Island and then to Lakhimpur district on the north bank of the Brahmaputra,creating panic among villagers. At least half a dozen people were injured.

“While one rhino returned to Kaziranga,the second is currently under the watch of forest guards in Majuli Island. However,a third rhino,which we suspect to be the calf of the second rhino,has remained untraced for the last three days. Footprints suggest it had entered Papum Pare district of Arunachal Pradesh,” Sarma said. At least 20 forest guards and a few officers are keeping track of the animals.

Assam currently has a little over 2,500 one-horned rhinos,of which at least 2,300 are in Kaziranga National Park. The rhino population in Kaziranga increased from just about a dozen at the beginning of the 20th century to 2,329 according the latest census. Poachers,however,have killed at least 40 rhinos in Kaziranga and other parks in Assam this year; the highest in 13 years.