A one-horned rhinoceros and a Royal Bengal tiger were found dead in Chitwan National Park (CNP) on Tuesday, according to forest authorities.
According to Dil Bahadur Purja Pun, CNP Chief Conservation Officer, a male rhino was discovered dead in the buffer zone area of the park in Kawasoti, Nawalparasi district on Tuesday during a regular patrol.
Similarly, a joint patrolling unit of forest rangers and soldiers from the Naya Gorakh Battalion came across a deceased Royal Bengal tiger in Bhimpur, a core area within the national park on Tuesday.
Pun told the Everest Chronicle that preliminary findings point towards “natural causes” for both deaths, although post-mortem examinations are pending for the tiger.
CNP, which is spread over 952.63 sq. km, is one of the largest habitats for the one-horned rhinoceros and Royal Bengal tiger in the world. Out of the 4,014 greater one-horned rhinos in the wild worldwide, Chitwan National Park is home to 694 of them, according to the national rhino population census of 2022, making it the largest habitat in Nepal.
The park is also the largest home to the Royal Bengal tiger, boasting a population of 128 tigers. An updated figure of tiger population released by the Global Tiger Forum is estimated to be 5,574 in the wild.
Globally renowned as a model for successful conservation due to its remarkable success in increasing the populations of rhinos and tigers from just three digits just a few decades ago to thriving populations, CNP has been witnessing alarmingly high numbers of one-horned rhino deaths in recent months. In just ten months of the fiscal year 2023-2024, the park has already recorded 21 deaths of one-horned rhinos, while 6 tigers have died in recent years.
While park administration claims that almost all these deaths were due to natural causes, circumstances surrounding some of these incidents have raised suspicions of poaching. In some cases, local media have reported authorities attempting to cover up instances of poaching to maintain the park’s zero poaching status.
Apart from poaching, the shrinking habitat and wildlife-human conflict are also contributing factors to the increasing number of deaths. The CNP has a buffer zone nearly equal (729.37 sq.km.) in size to the park itself, where heavy human settlements exist. Rhinos and other wildlife often roam into these areas in search of easy food sources such as barley, mustard, and maize, where farmers use heavy pesticides. In recent years, many rhinos and even some elephants have died due to poisoning from pesticides in food crops, falling into pits, sewage, large construction projects, or even being electrocuted.
The high density of animals has prompted authorities to transfer rhinos to other parks, while also relocating them to less densely populated areas within the park. Experts have been advocating for this practice on a larger scale, emphasizing the need for a thorough study of suitable habitats and food availability beforehand.
