 Reference Base  The greater one-horned rhino of Assam is threatened by po... |
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| Location: |
Asia - South Asia - India |
| Subject: |
Distribution - Poaching |
| Species: |
Indian Rhino |
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Since 1987, the All Bodo Students' Union has been demanding from the government a separate state of Bodoland, which would encompass Manas. The leaders want their own state in order to protect their culture, language and identity. In 1989, political strife increased; Bodo tribal terrorists killed over 100 villagers and invaded Manas, killing three wildlife employees. The Sanctuary became a Bodo refuge and 120 forest guards had to be removed until the agitation stopped (Vigne & Martin 1991). Manas has continued to be a hide-out for Bodos, who 'can easily escape from there into Bhutan. Whenever law and order breaks down due to the political disputes, Manas becomes open to all poachers who create havoc in the Park, poaching rhinos and other animals and cutting down trees.
In October 1992, Bodos burned down anti-poaching camps and ambushed patrol parties; two staff members were killed in this incident, making a total of six field staff killed by Bodos since the strife started. Rhino poaching increased again.
On 3 March 1993 there was an attack on the Bashbari Range Office by suspected extremists. The Range Officer was stabbed almost to death, and nine rhino horns weighing over six kilos were stolen from the strongroom. Administration weakened and staff morale fell; 13 rhinos were poached in the same month (Hazarika, pers. comm.).
In 1990 there were 54 guard posts and three range headquarters in Manas (Lahan, pers. comm.). Camps which were not destroyed in the early 1990s despite repeated attacks, and those camps which have been rebuilt, are all occupied by forest staff (Lahan, pers. comm.). Many guards are reluctant to work in the remote areas of the Park, however, because of the insurgency (Hazarika & Lahan, pers. comm.). There are four platoons of the state police to help at Manas and more are being sent. The Chief Conservator of Forests (Wildlife) Assam hopes paramilitary forces will be given by the Central Government. No rhino has been poached from May to early December 1993 because Bodo agitations have decreased.
The Bodos are the only insurgents around Manas; they are involved in rhino poaching and trading in the horns in order to buy guns. Some horns are sold in Bhutan. A Bhutanese princess named Dekichoden Wangchuk was arrested at Taipei airport in September 1993 with 22 Indian rhino horns weighing 14.9 kilos. At a meeting with Jonathan Loh of Traffic Taipei she admitted to having bought these horns over a period of one or two years. She had purchased them from a trader (not a poacher) who had probably obtained them from Assam, she explained. The princess paid up to $6,666 a kilo, and was hoping to sell the horns in Taiwan to pay off a business loan. One of her companies is based in the town of Phuntsholing in southern Bhutan not far from Manas; thus Manas is probably where most of the horns originated. According to officials in both West Bengal and Assam, the trade in horn to Bhutan has been active since the mid- 1980s. One official told us that Bodos from Manas have been regularly going to Phuntsholing with horns from Manas and Kaziranga to sell to several traders. Indians are able to go to Phuntsholing without a visa or even a passport, but if they go farther into the country they need special permission. In order to reduce the poaching pressure on the remaining rhinos in Manas this Bhutanese trade connection must be severed.
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