Indian State To Shoot Rhino Poachers On Sight

FLORA AND FAUNA

African one-horned rhino.

Russian hunter kills rare leopard
Vladivostok, Russia (AFP) April 23 - A Russian hunter has shot and killed a rare Amur leopard in the far-east of the country, one of only around 30 left in the wild, the World Wide Fund For Nature said on Monday. The hunter shot the female in the back in mid-April and finished it off by hitting it repeatedly over the head with a heavy object, WWF said in a statement. The incident occurred in the Barsovy national park near the Chinese border, and was the third such incident in the area in the past five years, WWF far-east coordinator Sergei Khokhriakov said. According to the latest report from Russian and US researchers, there are between 25 and 34 of these animals living in three nature reserves along the Amur river. Poachers can sell a dead Amur leopard for up to 50,000 dollars (37,000 dollars). If caught, they risk a fine of just 20,000 rubles (800 dollars), according to Russia's ecological watchdog Rosprirodnadzor.

by Staff Writers
Kaziranga (AFP) India, April 23, 2007
An Indian state has ordered the wardens of a national wildlife park to shoot poachers of endangered one-horned rhinos on sight, officials said Monday. "A massive anti-poaching operation has been launched with orders issued to shoot-on-sight any unauthorised person inside Kaziranga's premises," Rockybul Hussain, northeastern Assam state's forest minister, told AFP in the reserve.

Six rhinos have been killed by poachers in the 430-square-kilometre (166-square-mile) Kaziranga park since January, including two in the past 10 days.

Hussain said he had deployed 50 rangers and 30 soldiers for anti-poaching operations in Kaziranga, home to an estimated 1,855 rhinos.

Experts believe the rhino's horns, which are purportedly an aphrodisiac, are smuggled to China or sold in other clandestine Asian markets.

Buyers from the Middle East also use the horns to make ornamental dagger handles. Estimates suggest the horns can sell for up to 35,000 dollars per kilogramme (2.2 pounds).

Five rhinos were poached last year and seven were killed in 2005.

About 500 rhinos have been killed by poachers over the past 20 years, according to government estimates.

Kaziranga lies some 220 kilometres (158 miles) east of Assam's largest city of Guwahati.

India's western state of Gujarat is also battling poachers. It stepped up security in its Gir forest reserves last week following the mysterious deaths of around a dozen rare Asiatic lions.

Source: Agence France-Presse

Email This Article

Related Links
Darwin Today At TerraDaily.com

FLORA AND FAUNA

Gene Study Shows Three Distinct Groups Of Chimpanzees

Chicago IL (SPX) Apr 23, 2007
The largest study to date of genetic variation among chimpanzees has found that the traditional, geography-based sorting of chimps into three populations-western, central and eastern-is underpinned by significant genetic differences, two to three times greater than the variation between the most different human populations.

DISASTER MANAGEMENT Wireless Sensors Limit Earthquake Damage DigitalGlobe And GeoEye Partner With The USGS In Support Of International Charter Tsunami Emergency In Solomons Declared Over Philippine Survivors Left Feeling Forgotten	CLIMATE SCIENCE Are Pies In The Sky A Solution To Global Warming India And Japan Sign Pact On Global Warming Australian Drought Linked To Global Warming Will Lemmings Fall Off Climate Change Cliff
EARTH OBSERVATION Scientists Meet To Review Envisat Results After Five Years Of Operations US Uses Landsat Satellite Data To Fight Hunger And Poverty NOAA And NASA Restore Climate Sensor To Upcoming NPP Satellite High-Resolution Images Herald New Era In Earth Sciences	ENERGY TECH Buried Residual Oil Is Still Affecting Wildlife Decades After A Spill Biodiesel Will Not Drive Down Global Warming Why GNEP Can Not Jump To The Future Japan And US Eye Emission-Free Coal Plant
EPIDEMICS HIV Treatment Goal Elusive Bird Flu Genome Study Shows New Strains As new Infections Spread Ebola Outbreaks Killing Thousands Of Gorillas And Chimpanzees Total Hepatitis C Cure Possible	FLORA AND FAUNA Indian State To Shoot Rhino Poachers On Sight Gene Study Shows Three Distinct Groups Of Chimpanzees The Origin Of The Brain Lies In A Worm Swedish Scientific Breakthrough On Planting Blooming Was Faked
FROTH AND BUBBLE In An Indonesian Bay Fish Tumours And Controversy Coal Burning Having A Devastating Impact On Rural Chinese Chinese Economy Reaching Limits Plastic That Degrades In Seawater A Boon For Cruise Industry	ABOUT US Junk DNA Now Looks Like Powerful Regulator Scientist Says Cremation Should Meet A Timely Death Egyptian Faithful Crave New Islamic Gadgets Liver Regeneration May Be Simpler Than Previously Thought

The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2006 - SpaceDaily.AFP and UPI Wire Stories are copyright Agence France-Presse and United Press International. ESA PortalReports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additionalcopyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement,agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by SpaceDaily on any Web page published or hosted by SpaceDaily. Privacy Statement