Kaziranga National Park Guards Now Equipped With Satellite Phones To Prevent Rhino Poachers
With an aim to strengthen its fight against poaching, the Kaziranga National Park (KNP) has become the first in India to provide satellite phones to its guards.
With an aim to strengthen its fight against poaching, the Kaziranga National Park (KNP) has become the first in India to provide satellite phones to its guards.
The decision to provide satellite phones to KNP guards was taken by the Assam government in May and 10 such devices were handed over by Chief Secretary Jishnu Baruah to the park authorities on Tuesday.
As per HCM Shri @himantabiswa¡¯s direction, @sdma_assam handed over 10 satellite phones to @kaziranga_ yesterday. Chief Secretary Sh Jishnu Barua,IAS graced the event.Our deepest gratitude to HCM, HFM @ParimalSuklaba1 & CS for adding a milestone in protection of WL. @assamforest pic.twitter.com/xSoqlbSZW8
¡ª Kaziranga National Park & Tiger Reserve (@kaziranga_) August 10, 2021
The forest personnel will use the satellite phones in six ranges of the UNESCO world heritage site where mobile connectivity is poor.
The initiative will be of tremendous help in curbing rhino poaching in the park, the officials said.
AFP
Kaziranga is perhaps the first in the country to get satellite phones for its forest personnel, they said. This facility is generally used by security and law enforcement agencies.
The Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA) procured the satellite phones for the park at an estimated cost of Rs.16 lakh.
The satellite phones will give an edge to the forest personnel over the poachers and also during emergencies like a flood," Assam Environment and Forest Minister Parimal Suklabaidya said.
AFP/ Representational Image
KNP which is spread over 430 sq km is home to the endangered one-horned rhinos.
According to the last rhino census conducted in 2018, there are 2,413 one-horned rhinos in the protected area.
Poaching for their horn, which is falsely believed to have medicinal properties and are used in some traditional Chinese medicines had brought the one-horned rhinos to near extinction.
AFP
However, conservation efforts at KNP and the strict vigil by the alert guards there have seen their population making a recovery.
Though the number of rhinos killed for their horn in KNP has come down significantly in the past few years, they still remain under a constant threat.
AFP
Nine of the animals were killed in 2017, seven in 2018, three in 2019, two in 2020, and one in 2021 so far.
Bobins Abraham is the Assistant News Editor at Indiatimes. He has more than twelve years of experience in TV and digital journalism. An avid student of history and geopolitics, he is a conservationist and environmentalist at heart. He writes on environment, sustainability, human-animal conflict and more.
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