“The poachers had cut the horn without killing the rhino and it seemed to be in great pain," said the chief warden of the Chitwan National Park in southwest Nepal. Pradhan was informed by the tour guides of Nepal about the injured rhino. For him, it was the most touching incident in his wildlife career of more than 20 years. "We tried our best to save him and even removed the bullet from his head. But unfortunately, the rhino died within two weeks," a saddened Pradhan said.
This "gruesome incident" inspired Pradhan to develop a strategy to take action against poaching and wildlife trade that is rife in the Himalayan nation. Today, Pradhan along with park officials and security guards conducts random patrols on foot, boats, jeep and on elephant back everyday scouring inside the dense jungle but the result has not been promising.
"Three carcasses of rhinos without horns were found on the edge of the forest while patrolling last month," the 46-year-old said, adding his team was able to nab 12 poachers with guns, knives and nets after the incident. "We are struggling to control poaching."
In recent months, authorities in Nepal have witnessed sharp rise in poaching inside wildlife sanctuaries and at the same time confiscated tiger bones and skins across the country. The string of deaths has sparked fear among conservationists that Nepal is fast becoming a transit hub for endangered species, with rhino horns and tiger skins from India being smuggled through the country into the neighbouring China.
A rhino census carried out in March 2008 showed that there were 408 rhinos in Chitwan National Park, which is also home to the Royal Bengal tigers and is listed on the UNESCO´s world heritage site. The park has lost 24 rhinos -- 17 of them killed by poachers -- in the past one-and-a half years.
The figures of Asian big cats are not encouraging either. A new tiger census carried out earlier this year showed that there were 121 adult tigers in various parks of Nepal.
But the numbers have gone down by 60 percent -- from 65 to 26 -- in two wildlife parks in southwestern Nepal.
Officials have also seized over 145 kilograms of tiger bones, and hundreds of tiger and leopard skins from poachers and traders in the last five years. "The disappearance of tigers and seizures of skins, bones and rhino horns indicate poaching and trafficking is growing" Shiva Raj Bhatta, spokesman at the department of national parks and wildlife conservation informed.
"Our wildlife is in critical stage. We believe Nepal is fast developing as an international hub for wildlife trade and turning into a poacher´s paradise."
Bhatta said Nepal´s territory is being used to smuggle wildlife contraband to Tibet. "The smugglers are always switching their routes inside Nepal making it difficult for us to track them. Their network is a big problem for us," he said.
Besides tiger and leopard parts and rhino horns, Nepal in recent years has also been operating as an underground trade centre for otter skins, bear biles, red panda skins, musk pods, live birds and turtles, officials said.
Nepal shares porous border with both India and China and the lack of policies and cross-border coordination between the three nations means heyday on the rise for wildlife traders. "The poachers and traders are one step ahead of us. They are clever, well-organised and well-equipped," said Bhatta.
Devesh Mani Tripathi is the planning officer at the department of forest and president of Nepal Foresters´ Association. He thinks controlling the illegal trade and poaching is a huge challenge because of the lack of resources and expertise to tackle the issue.
"Combatting poachers and wildlife traders need proper intelligence and skills both off-field and on-field but we don´t have such mechanisms. Our system has failed and we need to revamp our strategy to tackle the problems of poaching and wildlife trade," said Tripathi.
Despite the fact that the wildlife parks are guarded by Nepali army who patrol around the jungles, poaching of rare wildlife species continues.
"The Nepali Army is not exposed to wildlife conservation and they don´t have knowledge about how to deal with the issue," said Tripathi. "They are carrying out duties like they normally do while staying in barracks so it has not been effective."
Another worry for conservationists is the infiltration of Indian poachers inside Nepal´s territory.
Indian poachers carrying guns were photographed in camera traps set up for capturing tiger images at Shuklaphanta Wildlife Reserve in 2008 and 2009.
Samir Sinha, head of TRAFFIC India, the wildlife trade monitoring network said the wildlife trade has grown into a multi-billion dollar business.
"All the signals are there to suggest that wildlife trafficking is fast emerging as transnational crime and is growing alarmingly," Sinha said. "It will be difficult to win the battle against traffickers unless countries collaborate with each other and share information and intelligence regularly."
Diwakar Chapagain, wildlife trade manager at the WWF-Nepal, said that the thriving illicit trade is alarming for wildlife conservation. "There is no denying to the fact that Nepal has emerged as the poaching and trade hotspot. The traders are using trans-Himalayan trails to transport wildlife parts in Tibet without being noticed," said Chapagain, adding that Indian poachers are a big threat.
"They (Indian poachers) can sulk into Nepal and kill wild animals in our national parks anytime," he said. “The rising demand of the tiger parts and rhino horns and rapid increase in their prices continue to be an irresistible incentive to poachers.”
"Even after the peace process, wildlife issues are not in the priority list of the government. The issue has been overshadowed by political issues. The magnitude of seizures across the country indicates that poaching and trading is remarkably high in Nepal."
"In this covert business Nepal is receiving a double blow -- by being both the transit point and a source where traders and poachers operate," said Chapagain of WWF. “If we fail to act urgently, it won´t be a surprise if all tigers and rhinos disappear from the parks in the next couple of years.”
A single tiger skin fetches a maximum of around Rs.80,000 (US $1081) in the local market. But in the international black market it is traded for a minimum of Rs.800,000 (US $10,666).
Experts say that tiger and leopard parts are in great demand in China and other Asian countries. They are wanted for their skins, which are used for decorations and making traditional costumes, as well as for their bones and body parts which are used as ingriedients for medicines.
Rhino horns are highly valued as an aphrodisiac in China, and are used to make dagger handles in Arab countries. A single horn can fetch as much as US$14,000 in the international black market.
"Tiger skins have become a symbol of social status and prosperity in Tibet and this has led to a growing demand in other parts of China as well," said Chapagain, adding that the booming Chinese economy has aggravated the situation.
Prasanna Yonzon of Wildlife Conservation Nepal, a local group monitoring the illegal trade, said Nepal has "ideal conditions" for wildlife trafficking as the land routes bordering India and China are porous and lack proper security.
"Nepal is not the market for consumption and we don´t have control over the market," said Yonzon, whose group has helped authorities nab over 100 poachers and traders through undercover operations in the last four years.
"The main market is China and other Asian countries. We are just being used as a conduit route to smuggle wildlife parts to the end users in those countries."
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