Indian forestry officials yesterday found the carcass of a one-horned rhinoceros, killed and de-horned by poachers in Burapahar, a range of the Kaziranga National Park, some 250km east of Guwahati. Illegal rhino horn trade is one of the major environmental issues in the rhino-protected areas of Assam, with the authorities reporting at least 12 killings of one-horned rhinoceroses so far this year.

Over in the flooded Saurashtra region of Gujarat, an Asiatic lion was found on the banks of a river last Saturday. In addition, forest officials said four endangered Asiatic lions were found dead in the Amreli and Bhavnagar districts. "Two adult lion carcass were found floating in flood water," said a deputy conservator of forests.

Relief workers were trying to reach residents stranded by floods in India's western Gujarat state triggered by torrential rains that have so far claimed 55 lives, officials said.