Over the past four decades, since the end of the 1970s, the Indian authorities have been engaged in the removal of rhino horns from poachers. They also sawed off the horns of animals found dead in national parks.
These targeted actions should demonstrate a relentless fight against smuggling. A bright touch to this was added by the action held in the state of Assam on September 22 – World Rhino Day.
At one of the stadiums in the city of Bokahat, bonfires were set up, where 2,479 horns collected during this time were set on fire.
Of the total accumulated horns, 15 belonged to black (African) rhinos: unlike Indian ones, they have two horns. 21 copies turned out to be fake. The longest horn reached 57 cm in length, the heaviest weighed 3 kg.
The average height and weight of the horns were 13.77 cm and 560 g, respectively, the total weight of destroyed horns exceeded 1300 kg.
The town of Bokahat is home to over 2,000 Indian rhinos, the largest population in the world. The people of India believe that “God is present in every being,” therefore the burning action was accompanied by the chanting of hymns and other Vedic rituals.
Before destruction, all horns were cleaned, photographed and marked with a special barcode.
DNA samples were also extracted from them, and at the end of the process, the rangers checked each of the horns to make sure that none remained intact.
Damaged horns have no market value.
