Strayed rhino still stranded 5 October 2012 GUWAHATI, 5 OCT: A strayed one-horned rhinoceros, which has been fighting a battle for survival in the mud and swamps of Rani Chapori ~ only 25 km west of Guwahati ~ is yet to be rescued. The Assam forest department officials planned to airlift the rhinoceros, which is understood to come out from the flood-hit Pabitara National Park days back, but the weather has been playing spoilsport for many days. Meanwhile, Union Forest and Environment Minister Jayanthi Natarajan expressed her worries over the recent rise of poaching of the precious animals in the protested forest reserves of the State and announced that she would soon come to Assam to take stock of the situation. She also had a telephonic conversation with Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi regarding rampant rhino poaching in the world famous Kaziranga National Park. Assam Forest and Environment Minister Rockybul Hussian had recently admitted that the state has lost 39 precious one-horned rhinoceroses this year till now, among which 11 rhinos were killed by poachers for their horns in various forest reserves. The minister also revealed that Kaziranga faced a severe flood this year and over 600 animals, including rhinos, died because of it. The full-grown male rhino, which was seen in Brahmaputra sand bar near the city on 30 September, was planned to be airlifted to Manas National Park in lower Assam and an Army helicopter was also placed in the locality with security cover. But the plan has not been successful yet. Earlier, Asom Gana Parishad organised a massive rally in Kaziranga on 1 October protesting the failure of Gogoi government to take pragmatic actions to conserve wildlife in Assam. The rally, led by the former chief minister and party chief PK Mahanta, was joined by hundreds of AGP workers and residents. sns
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