02/03/2005 – WWF Nepal
is providing support to the country's largest
national park by constructing an enclosure
to raise two orphaned rhinos
The two greater one-horned rhinos (Rhinoceros
unicornis) include a female who was rescued
four years ago after its mother was killed
by a tiger, and a male who was rescued after
being washed away and separated from its mother
about eight years ago.
The enclosure is being built, with support
from WWF's Terai Arc Landscape (TAL) Programme
and the Bill Jordan Foundation-UK, in a natural
setting at Kashara near the headquarters of
the Royal Chitwan National Park in order to
protect the rhinos from futher tiger attacks.
In the absence of an enclosure, a 17-month
old rhino raised in the park was recently
killed by a tiger on 21 January 2005.
"The park's scouts have lately intensified
the monitoring of the rhinos after they started
foraging in nearby fields," said Dr Chandra
P Gurung, WWF Nepal's Country Representative.
"Despite the regular monitoring, one
rhino succumbed to injuries sustained in the
tiger attack."
Mortality of wild animals due to natural
calamities and poaching has resulted in increased
numbers of orphans within the country's protected
areas. These orphaned animals are more vulnerable
than those in the wild. Behavioral changes
are apparent among human-reared orphan animals,
which reduce the chances of their adaptability
and survival in the natural habitat. However,
organizations, like WWF, are doing everything
they can to make sure the animals return to
the wild.
"The two orphan rhinos will be released
in their natural habitat after they become
sub-adults," said Gurung.
Two sub-adult rhinos raised at the Royal
Chitwan National Park have already been translocated
to the Royal Bardia National Park.
WWF Nepal has been providing support for
the translocation of rhinos to establish new
viable populations in other protected areas
of the country. The objective of rhino translocation
is to ensure the long-term survival of the
endangered species.
In the late 1960s there were less than 100
rhinos left in Nepal. Thanks to conservation
projects developed by the King Mahendra Trust
for Nature Conservation, His Majesty's Government
of Nepal's Department of National Parks and
Wildlife Conservation, the Biodiversity Conservation
Network, and WWF, Nepal is now home to over
600 rhinos, with Royal Chitwan National Park
having the second-largest population in the
world.
