By A Staff Reporter
Kathmandu, Feb. 16 : The government is set to conduct rhino census in four national parks -- Chitwan, Parsa, Bardiya and Shuklaphanta -- starting anytime between March and April.

The census, previously slated for 2018, was halted when government did not allocate budget for the programme. A large number of rhinos was swept away by the massive floods of 2017, many of which died later on.
Rescheduled for 2019, the census couldn’t see light of day again due to the nationwide lockdown imposed in the wake of COVID-19 pandemic.

“We don’t need to purchase new equipment as they we purchased them last year, so we are fully prepared for the census. We have already started clearing bushes at the park as the first step,” said Haribhadra Acharya, information officer at Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation (DNPWC), adding, “The department has formed several committees to carry out the programme.”

The government has allocated Rs. 8 million this year for the programme, while the budget was 11 million last fiscal year, out of which Rs. 2.5 million was spent on equipment, he added.

To carry out the census, 200 manpower, including 40 enumerators are required, along with 30 to 40 elephants.

Since Chitwan National Park has more rhinos than any other national parks, the census there is expected to take longer time.

In the past, rhino census was conducted in the years 1994, 2000, 2005, 2008, 2011 and 2015. The last census showed that the number of one-horned rhino across the four national parks was 645. Of these, 605 inhabit the Chitwan National Park.

A total of 23 rhinos have died in the current fiscal year so far. Some died due to natural causes; others due to poaching.