FILE: A one-horned rhinoceros walks through a tea garden at Cikoni Borhola village near Kaziranga National Park in Assam (Agence France-Presse photo)
Three poachers were shot dead this morning by forest guards in separate incidents at the Kaziranga National Park in Assam.
Two .303 rifles recovered, two gun silencers and a pistol was recovered from the poachers.
Earlier this month, two poachers were killed in an encounter with forest guards in the Bagori Range area of the national park, famous for its one-horned rhinos.
According to officials, five to six poachers had entered the park. While
two were killed, the rest managed to escape.
On December 31, a female rhino was killed by poachers at the park located in Assam's Sonitpur district. An Assam Home Guard, part of the force that guards rhinos at National Parks, was also killed by the poachers.
Poachers have killed and de-horned nearly 200 rhinos in Assam over the past 13 years; 20 were killed last year. A few years ago, the state government set up a special task force to guard rhinos.
In 2014, the forest department killed 22 poachers in the state.
Assam is home to the world's largest population of one-horned rhinos, an endangered species.