CHITWAN, April 3: A one-horned rhino was found dead in the Chitwan National Park (CNP) on Tuesday barely three months after the government declared 2011 as zero poaching year.
According to conservation officer at CNP Jhamak Bahadur Karki, the dead body of a female rhino was spotted on the bank of Saili-Maili river in the southern part of the national park. “The rhino was found dead with its horn missing,” he said. [break]
In the year 2011 not even a single rhino was killed by poachers. Acknowledging it as a huge success of the conservation team, 2011 was then declared zero poaching year. Tuesday´s poaching, the first such incident this year, has posed a serious challenge to the new safety measures adopted by the national park.
An immediate meeting was held in the park Tuesday to improve security measures. “We are very much serious about security lapses. We held the meeting to discuss ways to improve park security,” said Karki. A separate army battalion has been deployed to ensure security in the park.