South Africa cricketer Kevin Pietersen on Wednesday lauded India for its efforts to curb poaching of animals in the country and called it "very inspirational" expressing his wish for Africa to follow in the same footsteps.
Reacting to a report of a decline in rhino poaching in India with only one rhino being poached in 2021, Pietersen tweeted, "Bravo, PM Narendra Modi and bravo to all the men and women who sacrifice their lives in protecting the animals in India too. I've met lots of them and I respect you immensely!"
Notably, Assam has the largest population of the greater one-horned rhino in the world. Thus, in a response to the cricketer's tweet, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma thanked Pietersen for his acknowledgment of the state's efforts to curb poaching and also attributed the inspiration for this step to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
"Thanks for the acknowledgment @KP24. Inspired by Our PM @narendramodi we've launched aggressive programs to curb poaching. We're proud to have burnt and destroyed a stockpile of Rhino horns, largest ever in the world, on World Rhino Day to send a stern message to poachers and syndicate," tweeted the Chief Minister.
In reply to this, Pietersen tweeted, "Very inspirational! Well done. I wish Africa could follow your lead!"
A few days ago, Sarma had informed in a tweet that the number of rhinos lost to poaching in the state was the lowest in 2021 in the last 21 years and thanked the forest officials for their contribution to this feat.
( With inputs from ANI )
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