The report published in The Telegraph on May 12, 2011

Patna, May 16: A forester and a forest guard of Valmiki Tiger Reserve (VTR) have been put under suspension a week after the body of a poached female rhinoceros was found in the woods. The action was taken against the duo for their alleged failure to keep track on the movement of the rhino that had come to the reserve from Chitwan National Park in Nepal.

VTR director J.P. Gupta told The Telegraph over phone that the field officials would also face the charge of negligence. They could not spot the body of the rhino during patrolling though it was killed almost a fortnight ago. Senior forest officials came to know about it from villagers on May 10.

The body of the rhino was found in the Valmiki Nagar range of VTR, around 320km north of Patna. Two bullet marks were found on its body and its horn was missing.

Apart from suspending the two lower-rung employees, Gupta has served a showcause notice on the Valmiki Nagar range officer. “I will issue a similar notice to the divisional forest officer (DFO) II of VTR,” said Gupta.

He said a directive would soon be issued to the DFO-II to shift his office from Bettiah to Valmiki Nagar so that he could keep a better vigil on the areas under his jurisdiction. Valmiki Nagar is around 100km north of Bettiah.

For administrative purpose, VTR has been divided into two divisions, each headed by a DFO. While division I has three ranges, division II has been split into five ranges. The Valmiki Nagar range is under division II.

The information about the presence of the rhino in the Valmiki Nagar range had reached the VTR director in mid-March through villagers. Without waiting for official communication from the field officials about its presence, Gupta issued a directive to them for keeping a track on the rhino’s movement. His directive appeared to have fallen on deaf ears as is evident from the fact that the rhino was not only poached, but its body remained unnoticed for almost a fortnight before it was sighted by some villagers.

Gupta himself visited the Madanpur range of division II two days back and issued directives for keeping a close watch on the three rhinos of Chitwan National Park staying here for the past three years.

“We cannot take chances now as poachers have made their presence felt at VTR. I have directed the field officials to be on guard and a similar directive has been issued to the two rhino trackers deputed in the Madanpur range,” said Gupta.

He added that the option of using an elephant for patrolling work was also being weighed as the rhinos are staying in an area full of mud and movement on foot in such areas is very tough.