Extinction spectre over rhinos

GUWAHATI, July 26: Fifty-one rhinos have been killed by poachers in Orang national park in less than a decade. After the rhino population was wiped out at Laokhowa wildlife sanctuary and Manas national park, rhinos at Orang are now facing extinction. According to available figures, the rhino population has plummeted from 97 in 1991 to 46 in 1999. This year, five rhinos have been killed till July. Unabated poaching has also reduced the rhino sites in Assam from five to three. Earlier, rhinos were found in five protected sites - Kaziranga, Pobitora, Manas, Laokhowa and Orang. With the rhino population at Laokhowa and Manas totally decimated, the species is found at Kaziranga, Pobitora and Orang. The issue of rhino poaching in Orang came up for discussion during the latest meeting of the state wildlife advisory board on July 10 at the state zoo under the chairmanship of Aminul Islam, state minister for forest. "Though the members expressed concern, there was no concrete action plan drawn up to curb poaching at Orang national park," an official present at the meeting said. The commissioner of forests has asked the chief wildlife warden of the state to look into the matter and draw up a plan to tackle poaching. In 1990, no incident of poaching was reported from Orang. But in the past nine years, the situation has deteriorated with an average of five rhinos being killed by poachers every year in the park. "If something is not done immediately, the park will meet the same fate as Laokhowa and Manas," a senior forest official said. The Gauhati High Court has also asked the government to reply within three months on the steps being taken to stop the incidence of poaching. A public interest litigation has been filed by the Aranya Suraksha Samiti, an NGO working for wildlife conservation. "The poachers come from Morigaon district and are armed with .303 rifles and double-barrelled guns. Some also come from the char areas of Mangaldoi. They usually cross the river to reach the park and escape by boat," a forest official said. The park is also hamstrung by lack of manpower. "If one forest staff joins Orang, three existing personnel are withdrawn and transferred," alleged Bihab Kumar Talukdar of the Aranyak Nature Club, another NGO working for wildlife conservation. The environment activist said though poaching could not be curbed at Laokhowa and Manas because of a raging political movement and ethnic disturbances at that time, no such excuse exist for the situation at Orang. "At Laokhowa and Manas, poachers took advantage of the government's preoccupation with the Assam agitation and ethnic unrest. But that does not apply for Orang," Talukdar said. While Laokhowa was home to 70 rhinos, Manas had 80. "Largescale encroachment and neglect by the government are the reasons behind the present state of affairs in Orang," alleged Haricharan Das of the Aranya Suraksha Samiti which had filed the public interest litigation. The Kaziranga national park had faced a similar situation in the past. But effective action by the park authorities had helped restore normalcy. As a result, the number of rhinos also went up to nearly 1,500.