The carcass of a new-born male rhino calf was recovered in Pobitora Wildlife Sanctuary (PWS), which is now under flood waters forcing animals to take shelter in buffer zones.
The carcass of the 15-day old rhino baby was found by forest staff during patrolling in the flood-hit sanctuary that boasts of having world's highest density of one-horn rhinoceros, Forest department sources said.
The calf, was claimed by the sources, to have died due to floods and not killed by poachers.
There have been four natural deaths of rhinos, including the calf, this year, while poachers have killed two others so far in PWS, the sources said.
More than 90 per cent of the 38.8 sq km Wildlife Sanctuary are inundated by the overflowing rivers that have forced the rhinos and other animals, including leopard, wild boar, barking deer, wild buffalo, to take shelter in the high buffer zones set up within the sanctuary, they said.
Forest security forces have launched 24-hour vigil to keep rhinos and other animals safe in the Pobitora Sanctuary near Guwahati.
