SHILLONG:
Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on February 10 invited Hollywood actor Leonardo DiCaprio to Assam to visit the Kaziranga National Park after the latter hailed Assam’s effort to protect the endangered Greater One-horned Rhinoceros.
Taking to Twitter, Sarma tweeted, “Preserving wildlife is integral to our cultural identity. We are dedicated to persevering and safeguarding our rich cultural heritage. Thank you for your kind words, @leonardodicaprio, and I extend a warm invitation to you to visit @kaziranga_ and Assam.”
The Oscar-winning actor, on February 10, posted on Instagram, hailing the northeastern state for successfully bringing down the poaching rate of rhinos in the area.
“In 2021, the government of the Indian state of Assam set out to end the poaching of the Endangered Greater One-horned Rhinoceros in Kaziranga National Park following the killing of around 190 animals for their horns between 2000 and 2021. In 2022, they met their goal and no rhinos were poached in the area for the first time since 1977,” DiCaprio posted.
Furthermore, DiCaprio wrote, “Kaziranga National Park is home to 2200 Greater One-horned Rhinos, which is about two-thirds of the world’s population.”
“This triumph in India also comes with more news as the World Wide Fund (WWF) also reports that the world population of the rare rhino soared to around 3700 from about 200 at the turn of the 20th century,” the post further read.