Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Saturday unveiled three rhino statues sculpted from ashes of rhino horns in Kaziranga.

The three statues include a mother, baby rhino and one male rhino at Mihimukh in Kaziranga for display.

It is memorial to the greater one-horned rhino the forest guards the 1,300 sq. km tiger reserve owes its existence to.

It may be mentioned that as many as 2479 rhino horns were burnt to ashes by Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on September 22, 2021.

The ashes were collected from the burning stockpile of rhino horns and used in the concrete mix to create life-size statues of rhinos which are- 10.5 ft long and 6 ft tall male, an 11 ft by 5.6 ft female and a 3.5 ft by 1.5 ft calf.

CM Sarma said, “History was created when hundreds of rhino horns, stored in 12 treasuries across the State for decades, were consigned to flames on September 22, 2021 to send a strong signal to those involved in illegal wildlife trade.”

“The ash collected has been used to create these three rhinos immortalizing the efforts of those who selflessly protect Assam’s rhinos,” he added.

The memorial has been named as ‘Abode of the Unicorns’ and it took six months to complete.

The Assam Forest department collected these horns over the years and CM Sarma wanted to send a message that the horns do not have any medicinal value by burning it.

He further said that those dealing with smuggling and poaching rhinos will be dealt strongly.