Rhino carcass without horn found in Jaldapara National Park

Kolkata: The carcass of a rhinoceros with its horn chopped off was found inside Jaldapara National Park early on Thursday morning.

Forest officials, who recovered the body, have confirmed that the rhino's death has resulted from poaching.

"This is the second case of rhinoceros poaching at Jaldapara National Park after February last year. Our field officials during their surveillance in the morning found the carcass. The post mortem has revealed two bullet injuries in the body of the animal. We have already detained some persons for questioning," said Ravi Kant Sinha, state Chief Wildlife Warden.

A senior official of the department said local people had heard sounds of gun shots last night. They passed on the information to forest officials following which they conducted a thorough search and the body was found.

"We have taken several measures to prevent poaching. We have started a probe into the incident and are hopeful of nabbing those involved in the act. Strong action will be taken against the poachers," said Bratya Basu, state Forest minister. A similar incident of poaching had taken place on February 5 at Jaldapara National Park when the carcass of a rhino was found buried in the Teesta riverbed. Six persons were arrested in the same month and the horn was also recovered. In December 2018, a rhino was killed at Gorumara National Park. The forest officials had arrested three persons in connection with the incident. The Jaldapara National Park and Gorumara National Park are among the four forest tracts in India where the

one-horned rhino is found in the wild. The other two are Assam's Kaziranga and Manas national parks.