Poachers slaughter 13 endangered one-horned rhinos in India
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A one-horned rhino grazes inside the Kaziranga National Park, a wildlife reserve that provides refuge to more than 2,200 endangered Indian one-horned rhinos, in the northe-astern Indian state of Assam on Dec 3, 2012. Poachers in north-east India have slaughtered 13 endangered one-horned rhinos in the last two months, officials said on Friday, March 1, 2013, as another death added to worries about a recent surge in killings. -- PHOTO: AFP
GUWAHATI, India (AFP) - Poachers in northeast India have slaughtered 13 endangered one-horned rhinos in the last two months, officials said on Friday as another death added to worries about a recent surge in killings.
The attacks have taken place around the Kaziranga National Park in Assam state, home to more than two-thirds of the world's one-horned rhinos where heavily-armed poachers shoot dead the giant herbivores.
On Thursday, forest rangers deployed to protect the species were engaged in a gun battle for more than seven hours but failed to prevent the killing of another animal.
"The poachers killed the rhino and took away its horn. In two months they have killed 13 rhinos," Kaziranga park warden NK Vasu told AFP.
