Kaziranga, Assam, July 15: Just past its centenary, the Kaziranga National Park, home to the largest population of the critically endangered Greater one horned rhinoceros, is facing serious poaching pressures, as high prices in the illegal international market for rhino horn are attracting supplies from what is being considered "an easy and well-stocked source".

Last week, a team of forest guards, fought tooth and nail with three armed poachers, hiding inside the cover of tall elephant grass, growing rapidly in the monsoons that made the task of catching them even more difficult.

The chase, amidst constant exchange of gunfire lasted more than 36 hours ending in the death of one poacher and the escape of two others.

One .303 rifle along with eight live cartridges were recovered from the scene along with bags of rations and supplies.

The dead poacher, whose identity was not immediately known, is suspected to be behind the death of five rhinos in the past, officials said.

The year 2007, after a gap of many years, has recorded eight unnatural rhino deaths, with the pressure on the guards increasing as the monsoon makes life easier for poachers, and patrolling difficult, inside the waterlogged terrain.

Kaziranga National Park, in the north-east Indian Assam state, has 1,855 rhinos according to the 2005 census, which is over 80 per cent of the global population that is split between Nepal and India, with a few animals in Bhutan.

Kaziranga is a World Heritage Site and is internationally hailed as a conservation success story.

"The poachers are a part of an organized international network and well equipped," Utpal Bora, Divisional Forest Officer of the park said.

"However,the morale of the park guards is very high.

Despite heavy rain and the tough terrain and they will not easily let go".

"In India one rhino horn fetches between 5-6 lakhs rupees, which goes upfive times before it reaches retail at the final international destination,"Ashok Kumar, Vice Chairman Wildlife Trust of India said.

He emphasized thatuntil the international market demand is curtailed, even a well-built security network of forest officials could sometimes fail.

Known markets for medicinal use of rhino horn flourish particularly in China, South Korea,Taiwan and Thailand.

Close on the heels of a rhino being poached on July 5, routine night patrolling had been intensified around the vulnerable points in the park.

On July 10 a patrolling party in the Burapahar Range in the western part of the Park heard gunshots.

Being close to the highway, it seemed suspicious, and Mr Bora and the range officer, Buren Ikramul Majid, swiftly made teams backed by armed policemen loaned from the local constabulary.

The teams were then strategically deployed around the range and the first contact was established around 7pm when three persons were seen by one of the teams as they disappeared inside the high grass.

On being followed the poachers retaliated by firing, and the chase began in earnest.

The teams thereafter guarded all known exit points in that area and startedfollowing them.

They finally caught up around 7.45 pm and in the exchange of fire that lasted over an hour, one person was killed and the rest escaped taking advantage of the darkness.

It is believed that the three-man team had a sharp-shooter, an expert horn cutter and a tracker, who also knew the terrain.

The dead person is believed to be the sharp-shooter, an official said.

"The death of a shooter and the narrow escape for the rest will hopefully act as a demoraliser for others.

We want poachers to understand that we are serious and sharper with the gun than they are" Mr Majid, Range officer,said.

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