Indian officials burn rhino horns to stop illegal trade

By WASBIR HUSSAIN
Associated Press

GAUHATI, India (AP) — Indian officials have burned about 2,500 old rhino horns to spread awareness of the need to protect the rare animal on World Rhino Day. Dozens of Hindu priests performed rituals and chanted prayers as a top state official lit the fire in a sports stadium near the famed Kaziranga National Park. The horns, which had been stored for years, were from rhinos that died of natural causes at Kaziranga and other smaller habitats across Assam state and those confiscated from poachers. Kaziranga is the world’s largest habitat for the rare one-horned animal. Rhino horns are sold by poachers in South Asia, China, Vietnam and some other countries because of a belief that they contain an aphrodisiac and medicinal properties.