All steps will be taken to protect one-horned rhinos: PM Modi

New Delhi, Sept 24: Prime Minister Narendra Modi lauded the Assam government for burning around 2,500 rhino horns and assured that steps will be taken for the protection of one-horned rhinos in India. "Commendable effort by Team Assam. The One-Horned Rhino is India's pride and all steps will be taken for its well-being," the Prime Minister tweeted.

 

 

The rhino horns were burned at Bokakhat, Assam's Golaghat district, near Kaziranga National Park and Tiger Reserve (KNPTR). On the occasion of World Rhino Day, the Assam government on Wednesday burned nearly 2,500 confiscated rhino horns and busted myths associated with it. With that the government has send a strong message to poachers that the horn is of no medicinal value.

 

 

It should be noted that Assam has the largest population of greater one-horned rhino (Rhinoceros unicorns) in the world. Around 2,600 individual rhinos are found in Kaziranga, Manas and Orang National Parks, besides Pobitora Wildlife Sanctuary.

 

 

They were earlier found in Laokhowa Wildlife Sanctuary and some other parts of the state from Goalpara in the west to Dibru-Saikhowa National Park in the east. The burning of rhino horns exercise will send a loud message to those involved in the illegal trading of rhino horns and those who consider the horns for medicinal purposes. The rhino horns have a high value in the illegal market due to which poaching of rhino horns is high in demand.