Guwahati: Wildlife authorities used drones on Monday for aerial surveillance of a sprawling natural game park in northeastern India to protect the one-horned rhinoceros from armed poachers.
Security officers conducted flights of the unmanned aircraft over the Kaziranga National Park. The drones will be flown at regular intervals to prevent rampant poaching in the park located in the remote Indian state of Assam.
The drones are equipped with cameras and will be monitored by security guards, who find it difficult to guard the whole 480-square kilometer (185-square mile) reserve.
"Regular operations of the unmanned aerial vehicles will begin once we get the nod of the Indian defense ministry," said Rokybul Hussain, the state's forest and environment minister.
The drones will also be useful during the annual monsoon season when large parts of the Kaziranga reserve are inundated by floods from the mighty Brahmaputra River and three other rivers that flow through the game park, park officials said.
Hussain said the Central Bureau of Investigation, India's equivalent of the FBI, will soon begin investigations into the steep rise in rhino poaching this year.
Poachers armed with automatic rifles killed 22 rhinos last year, but have killed 16 rhinos already this year.
Rhino horn is in great demand in China and Southeast Asia where it is believed to have medicinal properties.
A rhino census conducted in Kaziranga reserve two weeks ago put their number at 2,329, up from 2,290 in 2012.
In recent weeks, wildlife authorities in Assam have deployed 300 armed guards to protect the rhinos in Kaziranga but they have been no match for organized gangs of poachers who have been managing to strike at the rhinos with increasing regularity.
"What worries us is the use of automatic weapons like Kalashnikovs by the poachers," said Assam police chief Jayanta Narayan Choudhury.
Security officers conducted flights of the unmanned aircraft over the Kaziranga National Park. The drones will be flown at regular intervals to prevent rampant poaching in the park located in the remote Indian state of Assam.
The drones are equipped with cameras and will be monitored by security guards, who find it difficult to guard the whole 480-square kilometer (185-square mile) reserve.
The drones will also be useful during the annual monsoon season when large parts of the Kaziranga reserve are inundated by floods from the mighty Brahmaputra River and three other rivers that flow through the game park, park officials said.
Advertisement
Poachers armed with automatic rifles killed 22 rhinos last year, but have killed 16 rhinos already this year.
Advertisement
A rhino census conducted in Kaziranga reserve two weeks ago put their number at 2,329, up from 2,290 in 2012.
Advertisement
"What worries us is the use of automatic weapons like Kalashnikovs by the poachers," said Assam police chief Jayanta Narayan Choudhury.
Advertisement
COMMENTS
Advertisement
Assam Direct Recruitment Examination (ADRE) Concludes Successfully Amid Internet Shutdown Assam Among Top 5 Growing States In India: Himanta Sarma Finance Handler Of United Kuki National Army Arrested By Assam STF: Sources 9 Dead, 2,800 Hurt As Pagers Explode Across Lebanon, Hezbollah Blames Israel 'Pager Bombs' Target Hezbollah In Lebanon. What We Know So Far - 5 Points Highlights: Arvind Kejriwal Resigns, Atishi To Be Delhi Chief Minister Ghislaine Maxwell's Sex-Trafficking Conviction Upheld, Appeal Planned Stage Set For Phase 1 Of J&K Elections Today, 24 Seats Up For Contest JPMorgan In Talks With Apple Over Goldman Credit Card Partnership: Report Track Latest News Live on NDTV.com and get news updates from India and around the world.