Rhino Found Bleeding In Assam After Suspected Poachers Cut Off Horn

A male rhino has been found wandering around the Orang National Park in Assam with a bleeding nose after its horn was cut off, officials said today.

The Forest and Wildlife Department suspects that it's a case of poaching where the poachers tranquillized the animal before taking away its horn.

The officials said that the injured rhino has been administered medicine by veterinary doctors and there has been no maggot formation on the wound.

"The rhino's condition is stable now and it has been allowed to remain in the wild under doctors' supervision," officials said.

This is the second case of Rhino poaching in Assam this year and the first instance of its kind at the Orang National Park since 2017.

"For once we thought it to be a case of infighting but closer monitoring suggests that it's a poaching case and the horn was axed away. Maybe the Rhino was sedated, " said Pradipta Baruah, Divisional Forest Officer, Mangaldoi Division.

The population of one-horned rhinoceros has increased by 24 over the last four years in Assam's Orang National Park, the count now stands at 125, officials said

The previous rhino population estimation was done in 2018.