Source::RSS
RSS
CHITWAN
Rhinos are being counted in four national parks in Nepal. According to ecologist Haribhadra Acharya, information officer of the Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation, the budget has been approved for the calculation. The department has allocated Rs. 8 million for the rhino census. Preparations were made to count the rhinos in 2019, the year after the floods in 2074 BS washed away the rhinos from Chitwan National Park.
At that time, the government of Nepal did not allocate a budget and could not be counted due to lack of budget depending on the donor. Although preparations were made for the census last year, it was stopped at the last minute due to Covid-19. Information Officer Acharya informed that preparations have been made for the census this year. According to him, all the preparations have been done last year. However, the work has to be repeated, including the training of enumerators. After the winter months, when the grass is dry, the forest is considered suitable for counting when it is desolate.
Last year, the census was delayed due to prolonged rains. At the same time, the calculation was postponed due to lockdown due to Covid-19. Information Officer Acharya said that the time from February to April would be suitable for the calculation. The time after that is not considered suitable due to wind, heat and so on.
There are rhinos in four national parks of Nepal, Chitwan, Parsa, Bardiya and Shuklaphanta. The rhinos were counted in 2015. Chief Conservation Officer of the park, Annath Baral, said that it would take a month to count the rhinos in Chitwan. He says it will take one week to 10 days in other parks. He informed that the process of managing the materials required for the census has been started in Chitwan.
Rhinos were counted in Nepal in 1994, 2000, 2005, 2008, 2011 and 2015. The latest census has shown the highest number of 605 rhinos in Chitwan National Park.
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