(Assam) [India], September 23
57 poachers of the Raimona National Park surrendered to the Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC) of Assam. This occurred on Wednesday. The poachers surrendered on the occasion of World Rhino Day. Government presented them with a cheque of Rs 50,000 each to help sustain livelihood.
“57 poachers surrendered along with arms in a village near Raimona National Park. They were given cheques of Rs 50,000 each. Government will give them more financial support . We urge others to surrender,” Pramod Boro, Chief Executive Member of BTC, Assam informed. Ever since Raimona has been declared to be a national park, the poachers do not want to hunt anymore . Therefore they are surrendering in Assam. To honour their step and to , the government is planning to further give an amount of Rs 1.20 lakhs. This will be for setting up a new business.
Meanwhile Boro further informed that they will set up two handloom factories in the area to offer employment. Meanwhile, the Assam government burned around 2,500 rhino horns to mark World Rhino Day. They burned the rhino horns at Bokakhat, Assam’s Golaghat district. This is near Kaziranga National Park and Tiger Reserve (KNPTR) to bust myths locals believe.The state government decided to destroy 2,479 rhino horns while they 94 horns for academic purposes.Notably, government declared Raimona in Kokrajhar district as Assam’s sixth national park on World Environment Day this year.
POACHING IN 2007.
Also the year 2007 spiked with 20 rhinos poached compared with 5 in 2006 and 10 in 2008. One of the
main reasons could be that a new senior officer was
appointed to Kaziranga(Assam) NP; it took him some time to understand the poaching threats and to learn how to combat them. Also this is due to the sudden increase in poaching,the morale at the front line sank. When the senior officer received information on poachers, the response to counter the attack was not adequate to keep pace with the poachers. The poaching was also due to apathy from the State government in providing timely support to the Park. In addition police arrested three frontline staff. Meanwhile all these issues broke the spirit of the frontline staff in Kaziranga.
image credits: Wikipedia
