At least 14 rhinos have died in the Chitwan National Park (CNP) and the forest area until February 9 of the current fiscal year, 2022/23, said the CNP. The FY in Nepal usually begins in mid-July.
KATHMANDU, July 20: A total of 37 rhinos have died in the Chitwan National Park (CNP) and its buffer zone in the last fiscal year 2021/22.
According to the CNP, two were killed due to poaching and the remaining due to natural causes.
CNP Information Officer Ganesh Prasad Timalsina said that among the two rhinos killed in poaching, the horn and hooves of one was intact while those of the next one had been taken away by poachers.
According to Timalsina, 18 were male, 14 female and the gender of five could not be ascertained. Most of the rhinos died due to old age, getting stuck in swamp, tiger attacks and falling in ditches among others.
Altogether 33 rhinos had died in 2020/21 while 44 in 2019/20, according to the CNP.
Depletion of those grasslands had also contributed to the declining number of rhinos in the CNP.
A total of 752 rhinos were recorded in Nepal in 2021. CNP is home to 694 of them.
CHITWAN, August 15: A rhino was found dead recently in the Chitwan National Park (CNP). Its horn was found polled.
The pachyderm of around 20-year-old was traced in morass at Batulichaur of Ghaghar under Madi Bagai sector in the CNP, said the CNP chief conservation officer Ananath Baral, adding that investigations were underway. It might have been killed at least two months ago because its horn was removed and there were like a gunshot wounds in the head, he added.
The gender identity of the dead rhino is still unknown as it had rotted. A joint patrol team of the Nepali Army and CNP employees found the rhino.
Immediately after the finding, a CNP high-level team launched investigation.
In the previous fiscal year, 2020/21, four rhinos were killed by poachers and 28 others died natural death, according to the CNP information officer Lokendra Adhikari. Five rhinos died natural death in one month alone in the current FY, 2021/22.
Despite efforts to control poaching, rhino poaching continued in the CNP.
CHITWAN, Aug 15: A rhino was found dead recently in the Chitwan National Park (CNP). Its horn was found polled.
The 20-year-old pachyderm was traced in morass at Batulichaur of Ghaghar under Madi Bagai sector in the CNP, said Ananath Baral, the CNP chief conservation officer, adding that further investigations are underway. It might have been killed at least two months ago because its horn was removed and there were also gunshot wounds in the head, he added.
The gender identity of the dead rhino is still unknown as it was rotted. A joint patrol team of the Nepali Army and CNP employees found the mortal remains of the rhino.
Immediately after the finding, a CNP high-level team launched an investigation.
In the previous fiscal year, 2020/21, four rhinos were killed by poachers and 28 others died natural death, according to the CNP information officer Lokendra Adhikari. Five rhinos died natural death in one month alone in the current FY, 2021/22.
Despite efforts to control poaching, rhino poaching continued in the CNP.
