Nepal celebrates Zero Rhino Poaching Year

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Chitwan observed a ‘Zero Rhino Poaching Year -2015’ to commemorate no cases of rhino poaching in the year 2015. Minister for Forest Agni Sapkota was the chief guest of the Zero Rhino Poaching Year-2015 celebrations held at Sauraha of Chitwan on Sunday. This is the third year that no cases of rhino poaching has been reported in the country.

Prior to this, the years 2011 and 2013 were marked as the years without the cases of rhino poaching. Wildlife Crime Control Coordination Committee arranged the programme. On the occasion, Forest Minister Sapkota said celebrating the zero rhino poaching year is a great achievement and it gives a message that collective efforts lead to the success in every sector. This has boosted country’s pride internationally.

Secretary at the Forest Ministry Uday Chandra Thakur presided over the programme. Rhino conservation drive is going on in the country with the joint participation of Nepal Police, Nepal Army, Local and nature conservationists.

Chitwan National Park of Nepal and Kajiranga National Park of India are major habitats for one-horned rhinos. The number of one-horned rhinos was estimated to stand at 800 in the 1950’s, but this number went down to just 80-100 after 75 years or in 2024- 25 BS. The recent rhino counting shows that there are around 645 rhinos across the country and the CNP alone is home to 605.