Talking to IANS, Arun Vignesh, the Divisional Forest Officer at Eastern Wildlife Division said: “The rhino carcass was found in a waterbody in central Kaziranga range. It was an absolutely natural death.”
According to the officer, at least 70-80 rhinos die naturally in Kaziranga every year.
Although the rhino was an adult one, it’s age could not be ascertained by the forest department.
In the previous week, carcass of a rhino was recovered at Bhuyanpara range near Rupohi camp of Assam’s Manas National Park, and officials claimed that the wild animal had a natural death, refuting the chances of any poaching attempt.
Vaibhav C. Mathur, director of Manas National Park and Tiger Reserve said: “It was a natural death. We have confirmed it. The horns were also recovered.”
The one-horned rhino whose carcass was found on Saturday was shifted to Manas from Kaziranga National Park and Tiger Reserve in 2013.
“It was a male rhino around 18-years-old. Most probably the rhino died due to infighting with other wild animals. We are looking into it,” Mathur said.
According to the forest officer, this was the third natural death of a rhino in Manas National Park this year. One rhino fell in the hands of poachers in the month of June.
–IANS
tdr/kvd
