Former English Cricketer and Wildlife Conservationist Kevin Pietersen applauded the wildlife protection efforts and the efforts to conserve the population of Wildlife Rhinos in India. He took to Twitter to write,
“Bravo, @narendramodi 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!”
Bravo, @narendramodi 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! ?? https://t.co/x4P0fZs5co
— Kevin Pietersen? (@KP24) January 19, 2022
This response came to a tweet from Organiser Weekly which spoke about how Rhino poaching has reached 21 years low in Assam in 2021 and the credit was given to the ruling Govt for taking the right steps.
The CM of Assam, Himanta Biswa Sharma tweeted crediting the efforts of the officials.
It's commendable that in 2021, no. of rhinos lost to poaching was lowest in 21 yrs
A huge milestone in our efforts to eliminate the menace of poaching from our state
Kudos to our Forest Guards & officials of @kaziranga_ for their sincere efforts to protect Assam’s beloved icon pic.twitter.com/q8lxCoXQqS
— Himanta Biswa Sarma (@himantabiswa) January 16, 2022
Assam is home to one of the largest populations of One-Horned Rhinos that are endemic to India. With this population also came the threat to Rhinos like hunting and poaching. This led to an immense decline in the population of Rhinos in and around Assam. To avoid this the Govt both at the Centre and state took important steps.
Key measures that helped minimize poaching were boosting the morale of the frontline staff by raising ration allowance by Rs 2,000 per month, providing them with modern weapons, setting up the Rhino Task Force covering all rhino bearing areas, setting up fast track courts in 10 districts to try poaching case among others.
Kevin Pietersen comes into the picture as he is a wildlife conservationist and has participated in the National Geographic documentary called ‘Save the Rhino’ in 2020 and had visited Kaziranga National Park in Assam and hence was vary of the situation.
