Kate and William were sad and furious to hear the shocking news that a baby rhino was slaughtered by poachers while the royals were visiting the beautiful Kaziranga National Park in Assam, India on Wednesday.
“The Duke and Duchess were angry to hear about the killing of this rhino during their visit. They hope their time in Kaziranga encourages others to support the brave rangers that are protecting animals that are so important to the communities that surround the national park,” a Kensington Palace spokesperson told The Weekly.
Duchess Catherine and William enjoyed feeding the wild animals
The Weekly’s Juliet Rieden has been on tour with the Cambridges in India.
On Wednesday the Duke and Duchess were touring Kaziranga National Park home to elephants, water buffalo, the endangered swamp deer, tigers, and two-thirds of the world’s population of Indian one-horned rhinoceroses.
The park in the state of Assam in the north east of India is a unique mix of grasslands, wetlands and forest and is more than 800,000 square kilometres in size and has designated a Unesco World Heritage Site.
Clearly exhilarated by their drive and proximity to the animals the couple were in seventh heaven when later they were introduced to a group of young animals at Centre for Wildlife Rehabilitation and Conservation (CWRC).
It provides emergency care and rehabilitation for wild animals that have been injured, displaced, or orphaned.
In a large area of grassland and sparse woodland the orphaned baby animals had gathered under the shade of a tree waiting for the royal couple who walked towards them. Armed with large bottles of milk William and Kate fed the hungry baby rhinos and elephants who were impatient to get their meal.
Among the youngest were Murphuli who was aged just four weeks old when she was found in a tea garden trench in October last year. CRWC vets hoped a female who rushed forward and examined the infant with her trunk was the mother but she was found in the same spot the next day.
Buree was another orphan found, aged two-months, a few days after Murphuli when she was rescued by villagers from a rocky pit and after recovering from a swollen hip is making friends with the other animals.
But it was Dunga the smallest and newest resident at the centre who won Kate’s heart. The youngster was found alone by forest staff while on patrol and when they failed to locate the mother he was brought to the centre.
Vernon Menon, chief executive office of the Wildlife Trust of India which established the CWRC with a number other bodies, joined the royal couple for the encounter with the animals.
He said: “They were absolutely thrilled and loved being with the animals. The Duchess loved the baby rhino particularly. The Duke said if he could he would have spent the whole day there.”
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