Guwahati, June 19 (IANS): Poachers killed a one-horned rhino inside the Kaziranga National Park in Assam and took away its horn, officials said on Sunday.

"The park guards found the carcass of a female rhino in Bagori range today (Sunday) morning. Its horn was missing, indicating it to be a case of poaching," an official said.

The animal was poached on Saturday evening. A manhunt has been launched to trace the poachers.

It is the ninth one-horned rhino to be killed this year at the National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, spread over Assam's Golaghat and Nagaon districts.

The poaching incident comes barely a week after new Assam Forest Minister Pramila Rani Brahma's visit to the park.

Last week, poachers killed another one-horned rhino in the park during Brahma's visit to review anti-poaching strategies. She then suspended the park director and appointed a new one.

The minister also instructed the new park director to take stringent steps to stop poaching of one-horned rhinos.