The Indian Air Force is expected to use one of its choppers to airlift a full-grown one-horned rhinoceros that is stranded on a sandbar near Sualkuchi in Assam in the bosom of the mighty Brahmaputra River.
The rhino had strayed from Pabitora Wildlife Sanctuary in the Kamrup district before it was swept ashore the sandbar at Sualkuchi by the strong current of the Brahmaputra River.
Assam's Forest and Environment Minister Rakibul Hussain said the only way that is left to save the rhino is to airlift it to safety. "Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi has taken the initiative and request the defence ministry to airlift the rhino stranded amid water through the Indian Air Force. The defence ministry has agreed to help and the IAF has already carried out mock drills for airlifting of the animal. We have to wait for the weather to improve a bit," the minister said.
Quoting opinions provided by wildlife experts, the minister said that the rhino would have to first