Assam CM Says 'Not A Single' Rhino Poached In 2022

Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma took to Twitter on Monday to announce that the state had seen "zero poaching" of rhinos in 2022, and praised Assam police and the Assam forest department for their efforts.

"2022 was really special for our rhino conservation efforts. Not a single rhino being poached in 2022 & just 2 in 2021, the gentle giant is now much safer in Assam," Sarma said in his tweet.

Special DGP of Assam, GP Singh, shared data to show how poaching cases had dropped over the years. Singh said, "Anti Rhino poaching efforts have yielded spectacular results. There has been no rhino poaching in Assam in Year 2022. Last poaching was on Dec 28th 2021 at Hilakunda, Kohora in Golaghat district. We would strive to keep the graph flat."

The graphs shared by Singh showed there were two cases of poaching in 2021 and 2020, and three cases in 2019. There were seven cases in 2018 and six cases in 2017.

The data showed a drastic drop in poaching from 2016, when there were 18 such cases. There were 27 cases each in 2013 and 2014.

PTI had reported in January 2022 that the body of a rhino, apparently killed over 15 days earlier, was found at the Hilekhonda camp.

In another case, a rhino was found bleeding from the nose on May 9 and its horn missing at Assam's Orang National Park.

Deccan Herald quoted Sarma as telling reporters on Sunday, "This is probably after 20-25 years, Assam has not reported poaching of a single rhino during a year."

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