KATHMANDU, March 3: The rhino census, which is conducted every five years, is mired in uncertainty due to budget shortage. The census has been conducted based on donors, which is why there is a budget shortage this year.
The Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation (DNPWC) has been conducting the rhino census in collaboration with various agencies working with the park. According to Haribhadra Acharya, ecologist and information officer of the department, the census was affected after the USAID's Jal Jungle Project agreed to purchase the necessary materials for the rhino census, but the program was postponed. The project had already issued a notice and started the procurement process for the materials.
The project was to bear the cost of all the necessary equipment, including GPS equipment, laptops, large cooking pots, tents, etc, during the census inside the park. “The project was preparing to provide materials worth Rs 5 million. It is estimated that a budget of around Rs 15 million will be spent to complete the census,” he said.
Preparations were being made to conduct the census in partnership with organizations including the World Wildlife Fund Nepal, ZSL Nepal, and the National Trust for Nature Conservation, along with the watershed. According to him, the census should be completed by next Chaitra (mid-April). Preparations were made to carry out the census from March 18 to April 7, and make the results public in the first week of Baisakh (third week of April). He said, “The census cannot be conducted after the end of Chaitra. At least 10 days of preparation should be made.”
He said that the department's census program would be affected due to the uncertainty of donor agencies' programs at the last minute.
Director General of the department, Dr Ramchandra Kandel, said that the census was affected during the final preparations due to uncertainty over donor support. He said that if the budget is received after discussing this issue with the ministry, the work will be done, otherwise he would be forced to postpone it.
A tiger census will have to be conducted next year. Since both tasks cannot be done at once, he said that if the rhino census is done this year, it will be easier to conduct the tiger census next year.
Although rhinos are being monitored, censuses are conducted to determine the exact population. The last rhino census was conducted in 2021. With the census, it is possible to determine how many rhinos there are in which area which makes it easier to manage them.
There are one-horned rhinos in the national parks of Chitwan, Parsa, Bardiya and Shukla Phata. The highest number resides in Chitwan. According to the 2021 census, the number of rhinos in Nepal has reached 752, of which 694 are in Chitwan.
According to the department's statistics, there were 800 rhinos in 1950, 400 in 1955, 300 in 1960, 100 in 1965, 108 in 1970, 147 in 1975, 310 in 1980, 310 in 1985, 358 in 1990, and 466 in 1995. Similarly, it reached 612 in 2000, 409 in 2005, 435 in 2010, and 645 in 2015.