Rhino poaching largely contained: Forest Minister Parimal Suklabaidya

GUWAHATI: On the eve of the World Rhino Day 2020, State Forest Minister Parimal Suklabaidya has said that poaching of the pachyderm has not been a major challenge now as it was earlier.

Talking to The Sentinel, the Minister said that following the department's efforts, poaching has come down since 2016 when 22 rhinos were killed in the State. "However in 2019, poachers killed only three rhinos," he said adding, "I took rhino poaching as a challenge while taking charge of the department. To make this happen, we had to upgrade weaponry for the Forest staff, besides making the relevant Act tougher. The most significant one is that an intelligence network has been put in place among the adjacent districts of Kaziranga National Park (KNP) so as to keep poaching at bay. It has been possible due to the wholehearted support from the Chief Minister," he stated.

Of the five species of rhinos found in the world today, Assam hosts the largest population of the 'Great Indian One-horned Rhino'. "The population trend shows a continuous increase in the 'Indian One-horned Rhino' in Assam. During the latest Census conducted in 2018, a total of 2,650 rhinos were found across the protected areas of Assam," the Minister said.

Every year, almost a hundred rhinos die due to natural causes such as old age, diseases, in-fighting etc. These deaths are nature's way of controlling the population and allowing the younger generation and stronger individuals to replace the ones that have already fulfilled their ecological destiny. "However, incidents of poaching often eliminate such young animals that could have benefitted the population dynamics in favour of the species survival. By bringing down poaching, the State government has done the greatest service to the 'Great One Horned Rhinoceros' and to our mother Earth," he said.

The 'World Rhino Day' was first announced by 'WWF-South Africa' in 2010. The movement took off on a global scale — both on online and offline platforms — when Lisa Jane Campbell of Chishakwe Ranch in Zimbabwe and founder of Annamitici joined hands with creative director Rhishja Cota in 2011 to create a massive awareness to protect all the five species of rhinos from extinction, informed the Minister's PRO Sailendra Pandey.

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