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Time of India
4 days ago
- Time of India
‘Poacher' shot dead in KNPTR during encounter, AK-56 recovered
1 2 3 Guwahati: Based on specific inputs of poachers entering the park with sophisticated weapons, the KNPTR security force and police, in a joint operation, killed a suspected poacher on Wednesday night. An AK-56 rifle and 11 rounds of live ammunition were also recovered from the possession of the unidentified individual. This is the second such instance of a suspected poacher being killed in KNPTR within a month. "Before the monsoon rain inundates the park, such poaching attempts are being taken. Nearly a month later it will not be easy to enter," said a senior police official. KNPTR authorities said while one individual was killed during their encounter with the suspected poachers, they had also recovered weapons. "The poachers are getting desperate. They are attempting to enter, but we have thwarted their efforts proactively," KNPTR field director Sonali Ghosh said. DFO of eastern assam wildlife division, Arun Vignesh, said, "We could not identify the individual. Most likely, he is not from a nearby area. If he was from nearby villages, he would have been identified by now," Vignesh said. Issuing a press release, KNPTR authorities said approximately at 8 pm on Wednesday evening, the range officer of eastern range (Agaratoli) received credible information regarding an armed attack on front-line staff, stationed at Balidubi Camp, by unidentified poachers. In response, all forest camps in the vicinity were immediately placed on high alert and additional security teams were swiftly deployed. The statement further read, a team, consisting of forest security personnel and local police, reached the Dhanbari area at around 10:30 pm and detected suspicious movement of armed individuals. "The team issued a warning, instructing the suspects to stop and identify themselves. In response, the armed poachers opened fire on the security personnel. Exercising utmost restraint, the team returned controlled fire in self-defence," the statement read. The individual was immediately transferred to the nearby Swahid Kamala Miri Civil Hospital at Bokakhat, where he was declared brought dead, the release said. A comprehensive search operation is underway to apprehend the remaining suspects involved in the incident, the statement read.
Time of India
25-05-2025
- Time of India
2 carcasses found in Kaziranga, 5 tiger deaths reported in Assam this year
1 2 3 Guwahati: Days after the brutal killing of an adult Royal Bengal tiger by a mob in Golaghat district, officials revealed on Sunday that two more tiger carcasses — a cub and a full-grown adult — were discovered in Kaziranga National Park and Tiger Reserve (KNPTR) over the past two days. With these two carcasses, the total number of reported tiger deaths in Assam this year has risen to five, sparking concern among conservationists. On Sunday morning, forest staff discovered the carcass of a tiger cub in the Burhapahar range of Kaziranga (Nagaon district). A day earlier, the decomposed remains of an adult tiger were recovered from a wooded area in the Kohora range of Golaghat district. Eastern Assam wildlife division's divisional forest officer (DFO) Arun Vignesh said, a postmortem was performed before the carcass was cremated. "According to doctors, the tiger (found in Kohora) likely died around 10 days ago. Since its body parts were intact, preliminary investigations suggest a natural death," the DFO said, adding that a final confirmation would come after the detailed postmortem report. The sex of the tiger could not be determined due to the state of decomposition. In the second case, a postmortem on the carcass of the tiger cub was carried out at the site. "It appears the cub's death resulted from injuries sustained in an attack by another tiger, likely due to infighting," the DFO said. Preliminary findings indicate the cub was a 12-month-old male. After the examination, the carcass was cremated. Kaziranga is home to an estimated 104 tigers, according to the last All India Tiger Estimation conducted in 2022. These incidents follow last week's mob killing of a Royal Bengal tiger in Khumtai (Golaghat district). Prior to these three recent cases, two other tiger carcasses had already been found this year — one in Orang National Park and another in Biswanath Wildlife Division — intensifying concerns over tiger conservation. The Royal Bengal tiger is listed as "endangered" on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of threatened species and is protected under India's Wildlife Protection Act, 1972.
