Frightening Situation in Lakhimpur Created by the Stray Rhinos of Kaziranga
Kaziranga, Assam
News Update: 02-Nov-2018
A terror-like situation created in the villages of the Lakhimpur district of the Northern part of Assam when two Rhinos stray from the Kaziranga National Park and entered into the nearby villages. The forest ranger Pranjal Kakati and a villager were seriously hurt when two stray Rhinos attacked him in the two separate incidents near the Kaziranga forest. The forest ranger got injured in the village of Panbari nearby the Narayanpur region while a local resident of Sengeleesuti village, Mr. Poya Tayung got injured during the drill to chase the stray Rhino back to Kaziranga Park. Mr. Poya Tayung was helping forest workers in chasing stray Rhino back to the Park.
The incident happened when two adult Rhinos wandered off from its natural habitat of Kaziranga forest and entered in the nearby villages and caused panic between the locals. The Rhinos had been just running across the villages in the Narayanpur region attacking whoever came in front of it. The stray Rhinos first spotted in the riverside area of Lakhimpur district at the Lagachu Chapori on Sunday morning. After getting the information about the stray Rhinos, the forest staffs arrived at the scene. They struggled a lot to chase the Rhinos to the Park but failed to do so.
On the next day, the stray Rhinos entered into other villages named Panbari and Chaudhapunia located in the Narayanpur area which caused the heavy panic among the locals. Once again, a group of forest staffs used the crackers to chase the Rhinos back to KNP. During the drill of chasing, one of the forest rangers, Pranjal Kakati seriously injured when a Rhino attacked the ranger. Stray Rhino then moved towards the Jamuguri Ghat. Apart from the rangers and villagers, two domestic buffalos also died in the Rhinos’ attack. Even after so much of the struggle and attempts to chase them back to the KNP, both the Rhinos are still wandering outside the KNP forest.
As per the forest department staff, both the Rhinos are present at separate places in Dhenu Chapori and Jamuguri Chapori. Being outside the forest, both the Rhinos are also facing a grave threat of Poachers as the area where the Rhinos are present now are known for Poaching attacks. A forest official of the Kaziranga National Park said, “Staff from both Kaziranga and Sonitpur East forest division are maintaining a round-the-clock vigil to protect the rhinos. We are trying to chase them to the park periphery as soon as possible.”
