A rhino dies at Chitwan roadside

One rhino has been found dead on a roadside in Bharatpur in Chitwan, just outside the Chitwan National Park on Sunday.

The rhino was found dead in a roadside ditch along the Narayangadh Pulchok – Gondrang road. The protected one-horned animal was found pierced by a road there as the structure was still under construction.

It has been suspected that the rhino came from the Barandabhar forest area inside the national park that is the biggest natural habitat of one-horned rhinoceros in Nepal.

The national rhino census conducted last year has found 752 one-horned rhinos in Nepal. Chitwan alone houses 694. After the census results came out in April 2021, at least seven other rhino deaths have been occurred in the park.

News reports December 21, 2021 say that 31 wild animals have died in the national forest area of   Chitwan in a short duration. Those wild animals have died in various areas includes rhinos, leopards, spotted deers, and red deers.

According to information officer of the Division Forest Office, office, a rhinoceros died due to electric shock in Bharatpur Metropolitan-16. He informed that the incident was under investigation. A leopard was found dead in the forest of Thimura after getting stuck in a tree. Similarly, 22 spotted and normal deers, five boars, and two red deers died, the officer informed.

Apart from rhinos and leopards, most of the dead animals were killed in vehicle collisions in the Barandabhar forest area, Ramnagar and Muglin areas. The officer further says that 70 per cent of wild animals have died due to vehicle collisions. The two vehicles that hit the animals were taken under control for legal actions.

Last year, 35 animals died in the forest area of   the district. The animals that died were: one tiger, nine horned deers, 23 spotted deers, one red deer, and one wild boar. “The number of wildlife deaths will decrease if drivers take precautions.” There is a debate on the construction of a sky bridge or a surface road in the Tikauli section of the East-West Highway, which has a high wildlife death toll, the officer had explained.