With the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge set to visit the world's largest one-horn rhino park in remote northeastern India, conservationists hope the British royals can help raise global alarms about how black-market demand for rhino horns and other animal parts is fueling illegal poaching and pushing species to the brink.
But just days before their Tuesday arrival, park officials said yet another rhino had been poached, bringing the total number of rhinos killed in Kaziranga National Park this year to six.
Poachers shot the rhinoceros and, while it was still alive, sawed off its horn before fleeing before dawn Sunday, wildlife official Subasis Das said. Once the dying animal was discovered, park officials rushed to try to save it but were unsuccessful, he said.
Prince William and his wife, Catherine planned a visit to Kaziranga specifically to focus global attention on conservation. The 480-square-kilometer (185-square-mile) grassland park is home to the world's largest population of rare, one-horned rhinos as well as other endangered species including swamp deer and the Hoolock gibbon.
With the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge set to visit the world's largest one-horn rhino park in remote northeastern India, conservationists hope the British royals can help raise global alarms about how black-market demand for rhino horns and other animal parts is fueling illegal poaching and pushing species to the brink.
But just days before their Tuesday arrival, park officials said yet another rhino had been poached, bringing the total number of rhinos killed in Kaziranga National Park this year to six.
Poachers shot the rhinoceros and, while it was still alive, sawed off its horn before fleeing before dawn Sunday, wildlife official Subasis Das said. Once the dying animal was discovered, park officials rushed to try to save it but were unsuccessful, he said.
U.S. & World
Prince William and his wife, Catherine planned a visit to Kaziranga specifically to focus global attention on conservation. The 480-square-kilometer (185-square-mile) grassland park is home to the world's largest population of rare, one-horned rhinos as well as other endangered species including swamp deer and the Hoolock gibbon.
