A male adult rhino was killed and its horn taken away by poachers in the Kaziranga National Park (KNP) in upper Assam today, a forest department official said here.
Forest Guards in Burapahar Range of the World Heritage Site heard gun shots at around 7.30 am and launched a search operation, said KNP Divisional Forest Officer Swapan Saikia said.
The bullet riddled carcass of the rhino with its horn missing was found from Chirakhowa area near the river Brahmaputra, Mr Saikia said.
Another DFO Rohini Ballav Saikia said the rhino was around 30-year-old.
A search operation has been launched by the Special Task Force (STF) inside the KNP and its boundary areas to arrest the poachers.