Wounded Kaziranga rhino damages vehicles

Hell, apparently, hath no fury like a rhinoceros wounded.

An adult rhino was knocked down by a speeding pickup truck on the highway south of the Kaziranga National Park and Tiger Reserve on Thursday evening. It lay unconscious for some time before labouring into the forest.

The rhino, bruised on its horn and a leg, returned to the highway on Friday morning “with a vengeance,” charging at vehicles that approached it.

Park officials said the rhino damaged three vehicles, including one of the Forest department, and injured one of the elephants being used to guide it back to the forest.

The highway was closed to the traffic for a few hours as forest guards fired gunshots in the air to drive the rhino into the hills of Karbi Anglong further south, where animals of Kaziranga take refuge temporarily during the high floods.

“The rhino was disturbed by the accident and was in an attacking mood, taking on the vehicles. A team of veterinarians is keeping a close watch on the wounded animal,” the park’s Director, P. Sivakumar, said.

Officials tracked down the pickup truck with the help of cameras at the Haldibari animal corridor under the park’s Kohora Range where the rhino was hit. The driver was slapped with a fine of ₹5,000 for speeding beyond the permissible 40 km per hour at the nine notified animal corridors at Kaziranga.

Elephant dead

In another incident, wildlife officials reported the death of a 30-year-old female elephant due to suspected electrocution in Sadia Forest Range in Tinsukia district.

“If electrocution is confirmed, it will be the first such case this year,” an official said. The Forest department recorded the death of 13 elephants due to electrocution in 2020.