Assam burned 2,479 rhino horns in a unique cremation ceremony in the field of Bokakhat in Assam to mark World Rhino day 2021 on September 22, 2021. Assam government had announced on September 16 that 2,479 rhino horns out of 2,623 rhino horns stockpiled in state treasuries will be publicly burnt in six giant gas furnaces. Of the remaining 2,623 horns, 94 will be preserved as archive properties for academic purposes and 50 will be reserved for court cases.
Assam government announced the special ceremony to burn rhino horns weeks after rhino horn reverification exercises conducted by the Forest Department in the state. Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma along with the state forest minister Parimal Shulklabaidya and other cabinet ministers will be present during the event. They will address the myths around rhino horns and the poaching issue.
Today is a historic day for Assam & India. We have taken an extraordinary step of burning stockpile of 2479 horns of single-horned Rhinos, first-of-its-kind globally in volume terms, pursuing vision of Hon PM Sri @narendramodi of putting an end to poaching in Assam 1/2@PMOIndia pic.twitter.com/4SuN0XuCWB
— Himanta Biswa Sarma (@himantabiswa) September 22, 2021
One-horned rhino is not only integral to our civilisation, but also a symbol of our prized heritage and identity.
— Himanta Biswa Sarma (@himantabiswa) September 22, 2021
We are preserving 94 rhino horns for display at a museum to be set up at Kaziranga National Park.
The use of rhinos' horns for medicinal purposes is a myth. 2/2 pic.twitter.com/rr96fNQdXi
What is the aim of burning rhino horns in Assam?
The Assam government will burn 2,467 horns out of 2,623 one-horned rhinoceros. The burning of rhino horns in Assam is being conducted publicly to mark a milestone towards rhino conservation. The exercise aims to bust myths around rhino horns and send a message of warning to the poachers and smugglers.
The burning of rhino horns exercise will send a loud message to those involved in the illegal trading of rhino horns and those who consider the horns for medicinal purposes. The rhino horns have a high value in the illegal market due to which poaching of rhino horns is high in demand. India which is a signatory to CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna) and selling or poaching of rhino horns is considered illegal in the country.
Where were these rhino horns?
These horns are from Barpeta, Morigan, Mangaldoi, Nagaon, Tezpur, Golaghat, BTR, and Kohora. These horns have been deposited in the Bokakhat treasury. The horns stockpile will be segregated before burning to remove the ones to be preserved. The horns will be scanned before burning. A webcast will be arranged for the world to view the ceremony, said Assam Forest Department.
These rhino horns have been collected from dead rhinos or recovered from poachers in Assam’s national parks during the rhino horn reverification exercises. They have been kept under the custody of the state forest department or treasuries across several districts. While all horns collected before 1979 have been disposed of but those collected after 1979 have been preserved. In 1975, one-horned rhinos were declared endangered and in 2008 were downgraded to the vulnerable category, as per the Red List of the International Union for Conservation of Nature.
Rhino horn reverification exercise
In August and September 2021, the state Forest Department conducted ‘horn reverification’ exercises throughout seven wildlife zones namely Manas, Morigaon, Guwahati, Mangaldai, Tezpur, Bokakhat, and Nagaon. They examined 2,623 rhino horns.
The multi-step exercise comprised an expert committee that included wildlife experts, DFOs, technicians, forensic specialists. The rhino horns were examined, weighed, measured, tagged, and extracted DNA of each horn was taken for genetic sampling. Of these, all horns during the reverification exercise, 5 per cent horns with unique characteristics were put aside for preservation.
On September 12, 2021, the verification of these horns was completed. Of the 2,623 rhino horns, 2,479 were marked for destruction while 94 were preserved as archive properties for academic purposes and 50 were reserved for court cases.
Of the total horns recovered during the reverification exercise, the longest horn from the Guwahati treasury measured 51.5 cm and weighed 2.5 kg and the heaviest horn from the Bokakhat treasury weighed 3.05 kg and measured 36 cm.
21 horns were found to be fake and 15 African rhino horns were recovered.
Is destruction of rhino horns against law?
The entire exercise of destroying these rhino horns by the Assam government is in compliance with Section 39(3)(c) of the Wildlife (Protection) Act of 1972.
The exercise is also in accordance with a Gauhati High Court order dated 2010 that had directed the Assam Forest Department to hold a public hearing on the proposed burning of the rhino horns.
What will happen to ash of the burnt rhino horns?
The residual ash of the rhino horns burnt will be properly disposed of to prevent smuggling of it for medical practices. The ash of these burnt rhino horns will be cast in concrete and sculpted into a life-size rhino. The concrete rhino made of the residual ash will be kept in the museum that is in the making.
Has burning of rhino horns happened before ever?
Rhino horns have not been burnt or destroyed publicly in this way however a reverification exercise has taken place in 2016 after the allegations by an RTI activist that some employees of the Forest Department have been illegally trading horns in the treasuries and replacing them with fakes.
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