UK conservationists' bid to save rhinos

KATHMANDU, Nov 24: To mark Nepal Nature Conservation Year 2009 and raise funds for vital conservation work in Nepal, the Zoological Society of London (ZSL) and the UK Trust for Nature Conservation in Nepal hosted a seminar called ´Fragile Nepal´ at London Zoo on Tuesday, the British embassy in Kathmandu said.



Conservationists from the ZSL have joined forces with local communities to form a team of rhino bodyguards on elephant-back to protect the species´ last remaining strongholds in Bardiya and Chitwan National Parks.



The participants of the seminar also dwelt on threats facing rhinos in the two national parks in Nepal. Invasive species, deforestation and settlement encroachment are some of the other threats facing Nepal´s greater one-horned rhinos, they said.



ZSL has said that it continues to work with the local communities and its other conservation partners in Nepal to address these problems and anti-poaching patrols are now being implemented in Chitwan.

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