KATHMANDU, April 8: The Chitwan National Park (CNP), with the highest number of the rare one-horned rhinos in the country, is also the best place for their habitat.

There are 694 one-horned rhinos in the CNP. The CNP covers a total 952.63 square meters area. According to the Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation, 102 rhinos were relocated to Bardia National Park, Shuklaphanta National Park and Koshi Tappu Wildlife Reserve from the CNP from 1986 to 2023 with the objective of establishing new breeding groups.

Similarly, internal translocation of additional seven rhinos was made in the CNP as well as relocated to Koshi Tappu Wildlife Reserve this March, shared the Department's information officer and senior ecologist, Shyam Kumar Shah.  

He mentioned that 26 rhinos were gifted to different countries during the period. Nepal for the first time had gifted four rhinos to India's Dudhwa National Park in 1985. As per the Department's records, it has gifted 22 rhinos to the United States of America, Germany, Singapore, Bangladesh, UK, Japan, Austria and China in different time periods till 2018.

According to the CNP, the rhinos were translocated internally to the CNP and shifted to Koshi Tappu Wildlife Reserve in recent periods after the growth rate of the rhinos found decreased following their increasing density in the western area of the CNP based on feasibility study of internal translocation.

Based on the feasibility study and a secretary-level decision of the Ministry of Forest and Environment on February 7, six rhinos were moved to the eastern area from western area of the CNP from March 15.

The Department has set a goal of developing a ‘Rhino Sanctuary’ at the Koshi Tappu Wildlife Reserve. As per the goal, two female rhinos (Pushpa and Anjali) were relocated to the Koshi Tappu Wildlife Reserve from the CNP on September 27, 2023, on the occasion of World Tourism Day. 

The one-horned rhinoceros that roams in the basin of the Brahmaputra, Indus and Ganges rivers in the northern region of the Indian continent is now limited to the Terai region of Nepal and the protected areas of India only. There are about 4,000 one-horned rhinos in the world. According to the 2022 national rhino census in Nepal, there are 694 one-horned rhinos in Chitwan National Park, 38 in Bardia National Park, 17 in Shuklaphanta National Park and three in Parsa National Park. With this, the total number of one-horned rhinos in Nepal stands at 752.

This species is included in the sensitive category of IUCN, Schedule 1 of CITES and Schedule 1 (Protected Wildlife) of Nepal's National Parks and Wildlife Protection Act, 2029. Dil Bahadur Purja Pun, senior conservation officer of Chitwan National Park, said the main challenges for the protection of rhinoceros are poaching, habitat destruction and degradation, and the impact of climate change. According to him, in the fiscal year 2079-80 BS alone, 26 rhinos died due to various causes. Out of them, 22 rhinoceros died due to natural causes, poaching and electrocution, he said.

Similarly, Ganesh Prasad Tiwari, information officer of the CNP, informed the  Rastriya Samachar Samiti (RSS) that 19 rhinos died till 21st Chait (April 3) of the current year. Among them, 15 rhinoceros died due to natural causes (due to old age, illness, tiger attack), three due to poaching and one due to other reasons.

Listed in the World Heritage List, this park is home to rare wildlife including the one-horned rhinoceros, royal Bengal tiger, gaur, wild elephants and alligator crocodiles.

Rich in biological diversity, the park is spread over four districts namely Chitwan, Parsa, Makawanpur and Nawalparasi (Bardghat Susta Purba). It is the first park of Nepal which is the main habitat of the rare one-horned rhinoceros and the Royal Bengal Tiger. This park was established on  September 20, 1973.

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