Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday lauded the Assam government for burning around 2,500 rhino horns and assured that steps will be taken for the protection of one-horned rhinos in India.
"Commendable effort by Team Assam. The One-Horned Rhino is India's pride and all steps will be taken for its well-being," the Prime Minister tweeted.
On the occasion of World Rhino Day, the Assam government on Wednesday burned around 2,500 rhino horns to bust myths associated with it.
The rhino horns were burned at Bokakhat, Assam's Golaghat district, near Kaziranga National Park and Tiger Reserve (KNPTR).
The state government has decided to destroy 2,479 rhino horns while 94 horns will be preserved for academic purposes.
Assam has the largest population of greater one-horned rhino (Rhinoceros unicorns) in the world.
Around 2,600 individual rhinos are found in Kaziranga, Manas and Orang National Parks, besides Pobitora Wildlife Sanctuary.
They were earlier found in Laokhowa Wildlife Sanctuary and some other parts of the state from Goalpara in the west to Dibru-Saikhowa National Park in the east.
( With inputs from ANI )
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