Intellectuals, guv bat for rhino protection

Guwahati: Intellectuals of the state, led by governor Padmanabha Balakrishna Acharya, have appealed to the state government to make people living near rhino habitats the first line of defence against poachers.
The appeal comes in the wake of a meeting held between the governor and intellectuals at the Raj Bhavan last week. Earlier, Acharya had slammed the state forest department and questioned the fighting capabilities of the men responsible for protecting the pachyderms.
The group also underlined the need to expose those helping poachers. The group stated in its appeal, “Unfortunate as it may sound, do we also need to verify whether we have fifth columnists - those who are hand-in-glove with these nefarious criminals? Whatever be the case, we must all realize that it is our foremost responsibility to immediately and relentlessly nip in the bud the nefarious activities of the poachers with the trust of people.”
The appeal further said, “The population of the great one-horned Indian rhino, which was once abundant in the alluvial grasslands of the Brahmaputra river valley, has drastically come down in recent times. This is mainly due to excessive poaching and shrinking of their habitats.”
They added that unabated poaching in Assam has become one of the major environmental issues in the country and the demand for the rhino’s horn is the most important reason for the decline in rhino population despite conservation measures.