Rhinos Poaching Cases Drops Significantly at Kaziranga National Park During 2019

By Siddhartha

KNP News: After the elephant population in Kaziranga National Park went up, more good news keeps coming for the UNESCO World Heritage Site. The national park has reported significant drop in the number of rhino poaching cases that have been poached since 2017. Only three total Rhinoceros Poaching Cases Registered in Kaziranga National Park during 2019. However, forest officials are not celebrating at this great news because they believe that the drop does not ensure that the threat level for these species have come down such. Meanwhile, this poaching figure is the lowest when we look back to the data of rhino poaching cases of the past couple of years.

Rhino Poaching in Kaziranga National Park, Assam is one of the major and challenging environmental issues which continue in the jungle area of Kaziranga National Park. Since KNP is located on the flood plains of Brahmaputra, large wrap of Kaziranga remain inundated during monsoon season. This is time when rhino poachers become more active in the region. Though, as a preventive measures Special Rhino Protection Force (SRPF) have been deployed in the park. This dedicated force was employed to keep a check on rhino killing activities in Kaziranga area. In the year 2013 and 2014 saw 27 poaching cases each year.

According Kaziranga National Park data, between 2017 and 2018 seven rhinos were poached and during 2018 and 2019, only six rhinos were killed. If we talk about current year 2019-20 only one rhino have been poached so far.  If it compared with year 2016 where 12 rhinos were killed, we see significant drop in the cases.

In the year 2017 and 2018, approximately 75 poachers were arrested. In 2016-17 89 poachers were arrested along with seizure of guns.

Statistics: The following Table Depicts the Numbers of Rhinos Poached in Kaziranga National Park Since 2015: