A Rhino Poached in CNP Nepal

KATHMANDU, APR 03 - 

At a time when the conservationists are riding high on their recent success of celebrating the zero-poaching year-2011, an endangered rhino has been gunned down by the poachers on Tuesday morning.

A female rhino was killed by a gunshot on its forehead, while its horn was found near Sainlimaili Khola in Nawalparasi district inside the Chitwan National Park (CNP) at around 5 am. According to a Nepal Army official, which sought anonymity, a laud gunshot was heard in the morning near the Khoriyamuhan area and Temple Tiger Hotel inside the CNP. Interesting to note that army posts are set up at Khoriyamuhan area and close to Temple Tiger Hotel to ensure safety of the wildlife and patrol the park area round the clock. Worse, the rhino was found poached near the army post at Amaltari in the northern part of Danda in Nawalparasi. 



“This is the first poaching case in the last 15 months. The detailed information on Tuesday’s rhino poaching is yet to come,” said Krishna Acharya, the director general at the Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation. Out of 534 rhinos counted in the country in 2011, 503 were found in the CNP alone. On January 7, the government along with various conservation partners and local communities had marked the Zero-Poaching Year amid a special programme at the CNP. During the programme, the conservation fraternity had attributed the success behind the celebration of no-rhino poaching year to the sound coordination and synergy among government agencies, conservation partners, local communities and most importantly security forces. 

“Poaching is still a big challenge in the field of conservation,” Acharya said, adding, “While poaching is thriving on high technology, security officials are ill-equipped to take care of the wildlife.” 



Source: The Kathmandu post