Indian veterinarians are struggling to save the life of a rare rhinoceros which was shot and had its horn cut off after it wandered out of a flooded national park.

The wounding of the one-horned rhino by poachers sparked outrage in the north-eastern state of Assam.

Footage of the bleeding rhino with its horn removed and a cut to its ear was broadcast on local television.

The state's head wildlife warden, Suresh Chand, said the animal had fled the floods in the Kaziranga National Park for a highland across a busy road where trailing guards lost track of it.

An estimated 2,500 of the world's 3,000 one-horned rhinos live in the park.