Assam foresters launch ‘electronic eye’ to check rhino poaching
19 Feb 2014
The Assam forest authorities, alarmed by a rise in poaching in the state's Kaziranga National Park – the last major habitat for the Asiatic rhinoceros as well as one of the last resort of the unique Asiatic elephant - has decided to launch an electronic eye system to help save the wildlife.
Out of seven rhinos reported killed by poachers since January this year, six were from Kaziranga National Park and one from Manas National Park, both of which are UNESCO world heritage sites.
Initially, eight towers would be fitted at different vulnerable locations, which would later be increased to 15. The electronic eye system would be fitted with optical and thermal cameras. The optical camera will capture normal images whereas the thermal camera will captured black-and-white images at night based on the wavelength of the object.
There has been a rise in the killing of rhinos primarily because of the soaring prices of its horn in China, according to global activist body 'Save The Rhino'.
China, belying both its communist and progressive credentials, remains the largest and most lucrative market for the parts of endangered animals, including Rhinos (killed mainly for their horns) and tigers, whose virtually every body part is supposed to be either aphrodisiac or otherwise beneficial. Almost all the tigers and rhinos poached in India are bought by middlemen in Nepal and sold almost openly in China.
As a well-known environmentalist once wryly quipped, ''Lions are lucky, they live far away from China.''
