The injured rhino that strayed out of Kaziranga National Park finally breathed its last at the sand bar nearby where it was languishing for the last few days.
Forest guards discovered the carcass of the dea rhino along the river bank in the wee hours of Friday
The female rhino was being treated by veterinarians under the supervision of forest officials since January 16 at the sand bar after the injured rhino strayed out of the Agortoli range of the Kaziranga National Park.
The female rhino that strayed out of the national park on December 20 last year along with a male rhino had been moving around along the Brahmaputra at different sand bars.
The rhinos were believed to have strayed as far as Majuli. The two rhinos was then spotted at a sand bar near Narayanpur on December 25.
Later when locals chased the rhino couple, the female fell into a ditch and sustained serious injuries.
The injured rhino was witnessed by locals at a nearby sand bar on December 28 who later informed the forest officials. According to witnesses, the female rhino sustained serious injuries on her leg.
The rhino managed to change location from one sand bar to the other crossing several currents of the Brahmaputra despite reeling under severe pain.
Finally a team of experts from Centre for Wildlife Rehabilitation and Conservation (CWRC)arrived at the sand bar on January 16 to administer treatment to the injured rhino.
The team was led by Conservator of Forests from Tezpur, Shiv Kumar. The team also included veterinarians from CWRC, Dr Samsul Ali, Dr Pranjit Basumatary and Dr Debrabrata Phukan from the State Forest Department.
The team began treatment of the injured rhino and the rhino was said to have responded well during the last two days. The doctors had an arduous ordeal by riding on elephant back to reach the spot where the injured rhino was holed up. They had to tranquilize the rhino before administering treatment to the injuries.
It is believed the rhino tried to enter the Kaziranga National Park, but succumbed to her injuries while trying to negotiate the Brahmaputra river on Thursday night.
Meanwhile, a team of doctors have arrived at the spot for post mortem of the dead rhino.