By A Staff Reporter
Kathmandu, Oct. 12: Chitwan National Park (CNP) is planning to carry out a study on the increasing deaths of one-horned rhinos in the park.
“The study will try to find out the causes of deaths and it will suggest measures to help reduce the mortality, said information officer at the CNP Ashok Ram.
The study is being conducted in coordination with the National Trust for Nature Conservation (NTNC) under the direction of Director-General of the Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation Prem Narayan Kandel.
Wildlife experts will be involved in the study, Ram said.
The study will focus in the areas where more rhinos deaths were reported, he said.
Ram said that discussions were underway regarding the start date of the study.
Over the last two months, deaths of eight rhinos were recorded in the CNP– one from poaching and seven due to natural causes, as officials claimed.
In the previous fiscal year, 43 rhinos had died due to natural causes and 26 in the fiscal year 2075/76.
Rhinos are mainly killed by floods, get trapped in swamps, and die while fighting with each other. Man-made embankments along the rivers have also posed threat to the endangered animals, Ram said.