NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday lauded the people of Assam for their efforts toward rhino conservation in the state after zero poaching incidents were reported in 2022.
Sharing a tweet by Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, the Prime Minister tweeted, "This is great news! Compliments to the people of Assam, who have shown the way and been proactive in their efforts to protect the rhinos."
Earlier on Monday, the Assam Chief Minister said that no rhino poaching incident took place in the year 2022 across the state.
CM Sarma was interacting with reporters on the very first day of the year. Following the tradition, CM Sarma said this.
Poaching of Rhinos was rampant in the past, which has now come down drastically due to stringent surveillance and other elevated security arrangements being put in by the authorities.
Assam is known for its one-horned Rhino and the state attracts a large number of tourists who come to visit such sites.
Kaziranga National Park is now home to 2,613 Rhinos and the numbers are increasing, as per the latest census data put out by the national park authority.
In 2021, the number of Rhinos lost to poaching was the lowest in 21 years at just 1. In 2013 and 2014, as many as 27 Rhinos were killed by poachers.
To give a clear message to poachers that Rhino horns don't attach any medicinal or monetary value, the Assam government publicly burnt a stockpile of 2,479 horns in September.
"The use of rhino horns for medicinal purposes is a myth," Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma had then said. (ANI)
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