Guwahati

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Thursday said the state recorded zero rhinoceros poaching cases over the past three years, describing it as a “unique achievement”.

Sarma also lauded all stakeholders involved in bringing down poaching cases and leading the conservation efforts.

“During previous Congress regimes here, on an average annually, 40-45 rhinos were killed. And that is the official registered number. More could have been killed, which were not registered,” he said at a press conference, when asked about the state’s rhino conservation success story.

“In the last three years, zero rhino poaching cases was registered. Post-2014, most years it had been none or one-two poaching cases, which have become zero now,” the CM said.

The BJP-led NDA government came to power in Assam for the first time in 2014.

“This is a very big conservation success and I think nowhere in the world, it has been achieved. It is a unique achievement for the people of the state as well as the government,” Sarma asserted.

The state’s rhino conservation success story was especially highlighted on the occasion of World Rhino Day on Tuesday, with Sarma sharing it on social media.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and former England cricketer Kevin Pietersen, among others, lauded the state’s efforts in saving one-horned rhinos, after the CM’s post.