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Poachers have slaughtered two rhino in Chitwan National Park - bringing the total since January to at least nine.

Chitwan National Park authorities were dismayed to discover the carcasses of two greater one-horned rhino (Rhinoceros unicornis) in the span of just ten days. On September 2, a male rhino was found in the Temple Tiger area, and on September 12, a female rhino was found in Krishnasar Community Forest of Nawalparasi.

Both rhino had their horns hacked out.

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According to local reports, four people have been detained by Chitwan National Park management. Despite 47 police posts and army personnel on the premises, poaching continues to threaten the park’s greater one-horned rhino population.

The Nepal Rhino Count 2008 reported a total of 408 rhino in Chitwan National Park when the census was conducted during March of last year. The killings since then have left less than 400 rhino in the park.

Fighting rhino poaching with grassroots support

In Nepal, the killing of rhino is most often carried out with the help of local people in exchange for money. Locals familiar with the habits of rhino are notorious for guiding poachers straight to their prey in order to earn the equivalent of a month’s salary or so.

This means local rhino conservation efforts face considerable challenges when it comes to changing old attitudes regarding rhino conservation.

Suman Bhattarai, Team Leader for Partnership for Rhino Conservation (PARC/Nepal) explains that children are taught about hunting - not conservation - from a young age. He says that since many of the uneducated and poor people of Chitwan’s Buffer Zone are struggling just to fill their stomachs every day, they feel there is no choice but to turn to the park’s wildlife to feed their families.

Even if it means guiding a poacher to a precious rhino.

We all know that a hungry stomach needs food rather than conservation. Nobody - not even a conservationist - can take action with an empty stomach. So, we must pay attention to the poor, who are destroying nature for the subsistence. If we ignore their appetite, conservation efforts will be meaningless.

Thus, PARC/Nepal focuses on providing educational activities and opportunities for alternative income generation as ways to raise awareness for rhino conservation. The group is helping several farmers achieve success with beekeeping, fisheries, and pig rearing. Recently, PARC/Nepal held an event called “Women on Conservation” - which was attended by over 800 people.

Another success story comes out of WWF’s Terai Arc Landscape Project (TAL), in which villagers saved a rhino from poachers.

One day, there was a rhino on the Indian side of the border. Poachers were following the rhino, and Indian policemen were following the poachers. The rhino crossed the border and entered Nepal, and the poachers followed, but the Indian policemen were not allowed to cross the border. Instead, they alerted us that both the rhino and poachers were heading in our direction.

Word was spread in local communities at an emergency speed. An increasing crowd of local people started pouring in, by bicycle and on foot. Once the rhino appeared, the people gave way, to allow the rhino to continue its journey to nearby Bardia National Park, where it seemed to be heading. Once the rhino had gone, the crowd pulled together again, and when the poachers appeared, the people used their sheer number to stop the poachers.

Greater one-horned rhino population

The are currently as many as 2,850 greater one-horned rhino surviving today - thanks to conservation efforts. According to the International Rhino Foundations 2008 Annual Report, greater one-horned rhino have been reclassified as Vulnerable by the IUCN.

In October, the IUCN downgraded the greater one-horned rhino from Endangered to Vulnerable on its Red List of Threatened Species - a success story for a species that once numbered fewer than 20 individuals.

However, this good news is no reason to relax: Rhino poaching is on the rise. The unfortunate Chinese superstition that the rhino horn contains “special healing powers” - coupled with the rise in affluence in China - is proving to be a deadly combination for rhino, as well as for other endangered species.

Without vigilant conservation measures, it is likely that all wild rhino would have already been driven to extinction - due to the insatiable demand for their simple horn of keratin.

Image source: flickr.com/photolib/ / CC BY 2.0

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