A piece of rhino horn believed to have been salvaged from the Kaziranga National Park and Tiger Reserve (KNPTR) has led to the arrest of 17 people, including seven casual workers of the prime wildlife habitat in Assam.
Forest and police officers said the piece might not be associated with poaching. But the arrest of the Kaziranga workers has uncovered what officials said was a “non-violent” wildlife crime — collecting pieces that fall off rhino horns naturally or during infighting and trading them illegally.
“So far, seven of our frontline staff members have been arrested for involvement in rhino horn trading,” said P. Sivakumar, Director of KNPTR.
“All seven are mahouts who can access tougher parts of the park on elephant-back and are more likely to spot and collect animal body parts. They probably gave in to greed,” said Ramesh Chandra Gogoi, KNPTR’s Divisional Forest Officer.
