RHINOS IN NEPAL

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Saving Nepal's Rhinos, One Truckload at a Time

http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/aug2005/2005-08-02-05.asp

By Deepak Gajurel

 

KATHMANDU, Nepal, August 2, 2005 (ENS) - A darting expert shoots a male rhino

and the two ton animal falls unconscious in Nepal's Royal Chitwan National Park.

A dozen people hoist the sleeping rhino onto a sledge and then into a wooden

cage fitted on a truck.

 

The process goes on until the desired number of rhinos is captured and the

trucks head for Royal Bardia National Park and Royal Shuklaphanta Wildlife

Reserve in western Nepal.

 

The Asian one-horned rhino is a critically endangered species, and Nepal has

second largest herd in the world. Rhino conservation is not an easy task, and

translocation of the animals to populate another park is regarded as one of the

best options to sustain the rhino population.

 

More than 100 experts, technicians and wildlife workers are engaged in the

operation. A dozen domesticated elephants are used to comb the grasslands in

Royal Chitwan National Park. From dawn to dusk the elephants and their human

companions search for rhinos, combing the grasslands where grasses and weeds

stand up to 10 meter (33 foot) high.

 

When rhinos are sighted, the workers drive them towards safe land for darting.

Experts dart them, take necessary measurements of the unconscious rhinos, put

them in a cage and then onto a truck, and transport them to a new destination

for release into the wild.

 

 

Wildlife workers on elephants drive rhinos to a location for darting in Royal

Chitwan National Park. (Photo courtesy Dhruba Basnet)

Translocation of the rhinos to Bardia has helped reduce pressure on habitat in

Royal Chitwan National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. This will decrease

the possibility of potentially damaging human-rhino conflicts that arise when

foraging rhinos stray into farmlands surrounding the park, say officials at the

Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation.

Establishing new viable rhino populations in Royal Bardia National Park and

Royal Suklaphanta Wildlife Reserve is the main goal of the rhino translocation.

 

" It is important to conserve the endangered species from any natural and other

disasters by developing viable populations in Royal Bardia National Park and

Royal Shuklaphanta Wildlife Reserve, " says Narayan Sharma Paudel, deputy

director of the Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation (DNPWC).

 

Repeated incidents of rhino-human conflict pressured officials and

conservationists to brainstorm a sustainable solution. Translocation of rhinos

was one of the answers.

 

The Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation is supported by WWF

Nepal program for the costly process of rhino translocation. " We have been

providing technical as well as financial supports for rhino translocation, " says

Dr. Chandra Prasad Gurung, WWF Nepal country representative.

 

 

Captured and tranquilized rhino in a wooden cage (Photo courtesy Dhruba Basnet)

Nepal is planning to translocate more rhinos from Chitwan to Bardia this year,

DNPWC officials say, because past translocations have been successful.

" From the suitability point of view, rhinos taken to Royal Bardia National Park

earlier have already given birth. This has proven that they can live there

sustainably, " says Dr. Mukesh Chalise, professor of biology at Tribhuwan

University .

 

The translocation could have continental as well as global significance. In

1998, the Asian Rhino Action Plan emphasized preservation and increase in the

number of animals and sanctuaries wherever possible.

 

Nepal's rhino conservation efforts have been applauded abroad. DNPWC officials

say that the Asian Rhino Specialists Group's meeting held in Indian State of

Assam in 1999 praised Nepal for rhino conservation efforts and encourage

maintainance of viable rhino populations in their old habitats as well as the

new ones.

 

A founding population of 13 rhinos was introduced from Royal Chitwan National

Park to Royal Bardia National Park in 1986. Most of the translocated females

conceived shortly after they were taken from Chitwan, indicating their

acceptance of their new habitat.

 

In 1991, 25 rhinos were translocated to the Babai Valley in the northeastern

part of Royal Bardia National Park. During the last translocation in April 2003,

10 rhinos, seven wearing radio collars, were released across the Babai Valley.

 

 

Caged rhino is loaded onto a truck for transport to its new home. (Photo

courtesy Dhruba Basnet)

Since 1986, a total of 83 rhinos have been translocated to Royal Bardia National

Park and four to Royal Suklaphanta Wildlife Reserve from Royal Chitwan National

Park, according to figures at the Department of National Parks and Wildlife

Conservation.

Nepal formally started wildlife conservation after the establishment of Royal

Chitwan National Park in 1972, when only 70 to 80 one-horned rhinos roamed the

forests and grasslands of Chitwan.

 

Success of the effort was evident and conservation officials were pleased. The

rhino count of 2000 found 544 rhinos in Chitwan, and a bonus herd of 67 rhinos

in the Royal Bardia National Park.

 

Experts said then that Nepal's rhino population was increasing at the rate of

3.88 percent a year.

 

But this encouraging trend was shattered during this year's rhino census.

Experts found only 372 rhinos in Chitwan, down 172 animals in five years.

 

Some of the Chitwan rhinos died when their habitat was destroyed, and others met

their deaths at the hands of poachers. Raw rhino horn and rhino horn powder are

worth far more than their weight in gold for the Asian medicinal trade.

 

 

 

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Quote of Note

" We abuse land because we regard it as a commodity belonging to us. When we see

land as a community to which we belong, we may begin to use it with love and

respect. "

-- Aldo Leopold, American environmentalist and author

 

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