By A Staff Reporter
Kathmandu, Nov 19: The Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation (DNPWC) has prepared groundworks to conduct one-horned rhinoceros census in March 2020.
The DNPWC is organising regular meeting, discussion and is coordinating with field coordinators to conduct census effectively, said Bishnu Prasad Shrestha, under-secretary and information officer at the DNPWC.
The census will be fully funded by the government. Earlier, rhino censuses were conducted with the financial support of several organisations working in the wildlife conservation field.
The government has allocated Rs. 11 million for the coming rhino census. It will require around Rs. 1.5 million to conduct the census in all four national parks, he said.
Rhinos are found in Chitwan, Parsa, Bardiya and Shuklaphanta National Parks.
The DNPWC has to conduct the rhino census once in every four to five years to take stock of the rhino population and expand conservation strategies.
Rhino census in 2020 will not be limited only in counting their number. It will focus on rhino habitats, availability of grassland, food chain and water land to find out the exact reasons behind the increasing deaths of rhinos in Chitwan, Shrestha added.
The census will also focus on the condition of the wet land, he added.
“The park ‘s overall condition and capacity will also be studied during the census conducting period. The study report of carrying capacity and census data will provide us clues about the mysterious reasons behind the increasing rhino deaths,” he added.
The last rhino census was conducted in Nepal between April 11 and May 2, 2015, when the number of one-horned rhino was 605 in Chitwan National Park, 29 in Bardiya National Park, eight in Suklaphanta National Park and three in Parsa National Park.