Centre forms team to probe Rhino deaths

New Delhi, Oct 23Alarmed at the spurt in rhino poaching cases at Assam's Rajiv Gandhi Orang National Park, the Centre has constituted a two-member team to probe into the deaths of the one-horned endangered animal.

A decision in this regard was taken recently by the Environment Ministry which felt that despite various steps by the state government for rhino conservation, the situation remained alarming in the Park, situated near the northern banks of the Brahmaputra river.

As many as six rhinos have been killed in the sanctuary this year so far. Seven were poached last year.

"A team consisting of Bibhab Talukdar, an independent wildlife expert from Assam and a representative of Wildlife Institute of India (WII) would visit the affected area and prepare an action plan for further action.

"The report should be submitted within two months," an Environment Ministry official said.