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		<title>Conservation news</title>
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		<link>https://news.mongabay.com/list/one-horned-rhinos/</link>
		<description>Environmental science and conservation news</description>
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	<title>News on One-horned Rhinos</title>
	<link>https://news.mongabay.com/list/one-horned-rhinos/</link>
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				<item>
					<title>Nepal&#8217;s rhino translocation looks good in numbers, but not so much in habitat</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/nepals-rhino-translocation-looks-good-in-numbers-but-not-so-much-in-habitat/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/nepals-rhino-translocation-looks-good-in-numbers-but-not-so-much-in-habitat/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>18 Jun 2026 10:32:26 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Bibek Bhandari]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Abhaya Raj Joshi]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/06/18095407/AP17099508379387-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=321422</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Nepal, and South Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Conservation, Conservation Solutions, Environment, Habitat, Habitat Degradation, Habitat Loss, Mammals, One-horned Rhinos, Rewilding, Rhinos, Ungulates, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[KATHMANDU — Nepal’s ambitious efforts to establish a viable population of the vulnerable greater one-horned rhinoceros in western Nepal’s Bardiya National Park 40 years ago has been seen as a conservation success. The park, which didn’t have a surviving population until the 1980s, is now home to 38 individuals, as per recent census. But a [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[KATHMANDU — Nepal’s ambitious efforts to establish a viable population of the vulnerable greater one-horned rhinoceros in western Nepal’s Bardiya National Park 40 years ago has been seen as a conservation success. The park, which didn’t have a surviving population until the 1980s, is now home to 38 individuals, as per recent census. But a new study shows that the translocated animals are wandering far outside their release zones in search of food and water, suggesting the habitat may not be healthy enough to keep them there. Researchers, who GPS collared five of the eight animals translocated from Chitwan in central Nepal in 2016-17, found that the larger home range of the reintroduced rhinos (Rhinoceros unicornis) in Babai Valley (one of the two habitats, the other one being the banks of Karnali River) of Bardiya National Park was primarily due to limited grassland, fragmented riverine forests and seasonal scarcity of water and forage. “Habitat degradation from floods further reduced suitability, forcing rhinos to range widely,” the study said. “Given the small population size and fragmented habitat, Babai Valley may not support a viable rhino population without significant habitat restoration, addition of individuals, or relocation to more suitable sites.” Greater one-horned rhinos in Chitwan, Nepal. Image by Aditya Pal via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0). Once confined to Chitwan National Park — the heartland of Nepal’s rhino population — a smaller number of animals were relocated to Bardiya and Shuklaphanta national parks in the late 1980s to expand their range. But&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/nepals-rhino-translocation-looks-good-in-numbers-but-not-so-much-in-habitat/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-321422</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Amid challenges, Nepal plans its latest tiger &#038; rhino counts</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/10/amid-challenges-nepal-plans-its-latest-tiger-rhino-counts/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/10/amid-challenges-nepal-plans-its-latest-tiger-rhino-counts/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>01 Oct 2025 02:04:11 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Sonam Lama Hyolmo]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Abhaya Raj Joshi]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2022/09/14071213/4106094460_bd6180bd5f_o-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=306858</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Nepal, and South Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, DNA, Elephants, Endangered Species, Mammals, National Parks, One-horned Rhinos, Poaching, Population, Protected Areas, and Tigers]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[&#160; &#160; KATHMANDU — After delays, Nepal is set to conduct its tiger survey and rhino count starting between December and March next year. The Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation (DNPWC), in collaboration with partner organizations, aims to conduct the count in five tiger-bearing and four rhino-bearing national parks of Nepal, including Parsa, [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[&nbsp; &nbsp; KATHMANDU — After delays, Nepal is set to conduct its tiger survey and rhino count starting between December and March next year. The Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation (DNPWC), in collaboration with partner organizations, aims to conduct the count in five tiger-bearing and four rhino-bearing national parks of Nepal, including Parsa, Banke, Bardiya, Chitwan, and Shuklaphanta. “Given the numerous delays for the census this year, we are planning to begin the tiger survey in December and rhino count in March,” said Haribhadra Acharya, information officer and senior ecologist at DNPWC. Despite a budget crunch caused by the USAID funding pullout this year and recent political unrest, Acharya said the department and partner organizations are in the planning phase and have formed advisory, technical and field task committees for effective and impact-driven surveys. While the tiger count is estimated to cost around 15 million rupees ($105,000), the rhino census is expected to cost 20 million rupees ($140,000). Although the censuses faced delays due to budget constraints, Acharya said the government plans to conduct the population counts through financial support received from different agencies and organizations, including the WWF Nepal, Zoological Society of Nepal and National Trust for Nature Conservation (NTNC). Rhinos in Chitwan National Park. Image by John Nabelek/OSU via Flickr (CC BY-SA 2.0). “We also plan to update the Tiger and Prey Base Monitoring Protocol 2017, which ensures two weeks of camera trapping duration for survey and sampling purposes. But the update would extend the duration&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/10/amid-challenges-nepal-plans-its-latest-tiger-rhino-counts/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-306858</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>US funding shortfall halts Nepal’s rhino census, sparks debate over methods</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/05/us-funding-shortfall-halts-nepals-rhino-census-sparks-debate-over-methods/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/05/us-funding-shortfall-halts-nepals-rhino-census-sparks-debate-over-methods/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>29 May 2025 00:28:49 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Deepak Adhikari]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Abhaya Raj Joshi]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/05/29000434/rhino-census-nepal-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=299820</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Nepal, and South Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Conservation, Developing Countries, Elephants, Foreign Aid, Human-wildlife Conflict, Mammals, One-horned Rhinos, and Population]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[KATHMANDU — In March 2021, dozens of elephants marched through the grasslands and sal (Shorea robusta) forests of Chitwan National Park, their riders armed with GPS devices and notebooks, searching for one of Asia’s most iconic megafauna: the greater one-horned rhinoceros (Rhinoceros unicornis). The labor-intensive census mobilized more than 300 people and spanned three protected [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[KATHMANDU — In March 2021, dozens of elephants marched through the grasslands and sal (Shorea robusta) forests of Chitwan National Park, their riders armed with GPS devices and notebooks, searching for one of Asia’s most iconic megafauna: the greater one-horned rhinoceros (Rhinoceros unicornis). The labor-intensive census mobilized more than 300 people and spanned three protected areas and 21 habitat blocks. It ended with a population estimate of 752 rhinos — a 16% increase from the last census in 2015, raising hope for the species classified as ‘vulnerable’ by IUCN, the global conservation authority. Now, for the first time in decades, Nepal has canceled its national rhino count, citing a lack of funds. “We’ve decided to carry out the census next year,” said Bed Kumar Dhakal, spokesperson for the country’s Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation (DNPWC). The quinquennial rhino census, which takes nearly a month, costs an estimated $115,000-155,000 (around 15-20 million Nepali rupees). Two one-horned rhinos seen in Nepal. Image courtesy of NTNC. Early this year, the Trump Administration in the U.S. launched a policy to reduce overseas spending, shutting down the activities of its main aid agency USAID. Nepal had anticipated support from USAID’s Jal Jungle project, with longtime conservation partners including WWF, Zoological Society of London and National Trust for Nature Conservation (NTNC) also expected to share the rest of the expenses. After the USAID pullout, the government decided to cancel the census plans. Some conservationists, however, argue that this pause presents an opportunity to rethink&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/05/us-funding-shortfall-halts-nepals-rhino-census-sparks-debate-over-methods/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-299820</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Nepal collaborates with neighbors to gain wildlife crime intel but struggles with enforcement</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/03/nepal-collaborates-with-neighbors-to-gain-wildlife-crime-intel-but-struggles-with-enforcement/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/03/nepal-collaborates-with-neighbors-to-gain-wildlife-crime-intel-but-struggles-with-enforcement/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>26 Mar 2025 05:17:03 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Kosh Raj Koirala]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Abhaya Raj Joshi]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2017/05/24015636/Nepal-2_credit-ZSL-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=296482</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Atlantic Forest, India, Nepal, and South Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Conservation, Endangered Species, Illegal Trade, One-horned Rhinos, Protected Areas, Tigers, and Wildlife Trade]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[KATHMANDU — In February this year, Indian media reported the rising number of cases involving tiger bone glue — an illicit sap-like substance made by pressure-cooking tiger bones and sold illegally in China, Vietnam and other countries across Southeast Asia as a supposed remedy for muscle-and-bone ailments and as an aphrodisiac. Following the publication of [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[KATHMANDU — In February this year, Indian media reported the rising number of cases involving tiger bone glue — an illicit sap-like substance made by pressure-cooking tiger bones and sold illegally in China, Vietnam and other countries across Southeast Asia as a supposed remedy for muscle-and-bone ailments and as an aphrodisiac. Following the publication of the reports, in next-door Nepal, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CIB) of Nepal Police alerted the customs and police officials at key transit points, urging vigilance for suspicious cargo resembling the glue-like substance. While such information coming from different sources outside of Nepal helps the country’s law enforcement fight emerging threats, weak legislation and overlapping jurisdictions at home hinder effective response and action, stakeholders say. “The modus operandi of wildlife crime is constantly evolving,” says superintendent of police Sudhir Raj Shahi of the CIB, a wing under Nepal Police dedicated to investigating organized crime. “As Nepal is a crucial transit country for smugglers, we remain highly alert to emerging trends abroad, especially in neighboring India.” &#8220;Murray&#8221;, an anti-poaching dog being trained in Chitwan National Park. Image by Akash Shrestha/WWF-Nepal. At the heart of the cross-border collaboration against illegal wildlife trade between Nepal and its neighbors is the real-time information sharing mechanism between wildlife crime enforcement agencies such as the Wildlife Crime Control Bureaus (WCCBs) in Nepal and in India and the South Asia Wildlife Enforcement Network (SAWEN), headquartered in Kathmandu. Law enforcement officials in Nepal receive intelligence from counterparts in India, Bhutan and Sri Lanka,&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/03/nepal-collaborates-with-neighbors-to-gain-wildlife-crime-intel-but-struggles-with-enforcement/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/03/nepal-collaborates-with-neighbors-to-gain-wildlife-crime-intel-but-struggles-with-enforcement/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-296482</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Chitwan city using Indo-Nepal wildlife corridor for waste dump</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/03/chitwan-city-using-indo-nepal-wildlife-corridor-for-waste-dump/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/03/chitwan-city-using-indo-nepal-wildlife-corridor-for-waste-dump/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>11 Mar 2025 03:07:16 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Rajesh Ghimire]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Abhaya Raj Joshi]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/03/11024507/IMG_2329-2-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=295516</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Nepal, and South Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Circular Economy, Conservation, Development, Infrastructure, Mammals, One-horned Rhinos, Tigers, Waste, and Wildlife Corridors]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[CHITWAN, Nepal — One of Nepal’s biggest cities on the northwestern fringes of Chitwan National Park has been dumping its municipal waste in a forest that serves as an international wildlife corridor, by relying on falsified environmental safeguard documents submitted 15 years ago, a Mongabay investigation has found. Bharatpur Metropolitan City claims it has legal [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[CHITWAN, Nepal — One of Nepal’s biggest cities on the northwestern fringes of Chitwan National Park has been dumping its municipal waste in a forest that serves as an international wildlife corridor, by relying on falsified environmental safeguard documents submitted 15 years ago, a Mongabay investigation has found. Bharatpur Metropolitan City claims it has legal rights to use the land in Jaldevi forest, part of the Barandabhar corridor, as a landfill. However, a Mongabay investigation has found that the city lied about the status of trees and ignored the importance of the corridor in its 2010 report to avoid scrutiny from forest officials. An initial environmental examination (IEE) report, submitted by the city in 2010 to the then-Ministry of Local Government (now the Ministry of Federal Affairs and General Administration) stated that the proposed site covered approximately 9.9 hectares (24.4 acres) of land, which had remained barren for a long time, and, “There is no problem of losing of trees during the construction and operation of the land fill site.” However, a recent site visit by Mongabay contradicts these claims. The proposed area is home to more than 2,000 trees and shrubs, including slow-growing species such as sal (Shorea robusta), which take decades to mature. Mongabay also found that the local divisional forest office had already marked these trees for felling even without orders from the federal forest department to do so. For the last four months, around 40 truckloads (approximately 80 tons) of waste are being dumped in the&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/03/chitwan-city-using-indo-nepal-wildlife-corridor-for-waste-dump/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-295516</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Nepal’s rhino translocations to continue amid concerns over effectiveness</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/11/nepals-rhino-translocations-to-continue-amid-concerns-over-effectiveness/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/11/nepals-rhino-translocations-to-continue-amid-concerns-over-effectiveness/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>28 Nov 2024 06:36:25 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Abhaya Raj Joshi]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Abhaya Raj Joshi]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2024/10/17074526/25430259947_75c9d2f7f7_o-768x512.jpeg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=290831</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Nepal, and South Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Conservation, Ecotourism, Habitat Degradation, Mammals, National Parks, One-horned Rhinos, Rhinos, and Tourism]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[KATHMANDU — Authorities in Nepal say they’ll continue a translocation program to even out the distribution of rhinos in the popular Chitwan National Park, despite protests from tourism operators and concerns from conservationists. The greater one-horned rhino (Rhinoceros unicornis) represents a conservation success story for Nepal — going from a low of around 100 in [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[KATHMANDU — Authorities in Nepal say they’ll continue a translocation program to even out the distribution of rhinos in the popular Chitwan National Park, despite protests from tourism operators and concerns from conservationists. The greater one-horned rhino (Rhinoceros unicornis) represents a conservation success story for Nepal — going from a low of around 100 in the 1960s to 752 as of the 2021 census, with 694 in Chitwan. But too many rhinos in the park’s western sector, popular with tourists, may be contributing to a current increase in mortality rates, prompting the Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation (DNPWC) to launch a program in March to move some rhinos to the eastern sector. An initial six rhinos have been translocated, and the plan is to move another four soon. But tourism operators in the western sector have protested the decision, saying it will hurt their business as tourists come to the area to see the animals. “We are aware of some reservations from local tourism entrepreneurs. But the translocation program will continue,” said Hari Bhadra Acharya, senior ecologist and information officer at the DNPWC. While not yet publishing the study that recommended carrying out translocations, the government has cited several reasons for doing so. A 2022 study looking at mortality cases found a significant decline in poaching deaths from 2008-2018, thanks to intensified community-based law enforcement measures. However, there was also a notable increment in non-poaching deaths during this period, including from individual rhinos fighting each other and from&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2024/11/nepals-rhino-translocations-to-continue-amid-concerns-over-effectiveness/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-290831</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Nepal’s railway rerouting plan to avoid Chitwan park sparks fiery backlash</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/07/nepals-railway-rerouting-plan-to-avoid-chitwan-park-sparks-fiery-backlash/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/07/nepals-railway-rerouting-plan-to-avoid-chitwan-park-sparks-fiery-backlash/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>30 Jul 2024 05:01:22 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Abhaya Raj Joshi]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Abhaya Raj Joshi]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2023/09/30090910/rhinos-chitwan-Nepal-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=285323</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Nepal, and South Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Conservation, Development, Infrastructure, Mammals, Mitigation, One-horned Rhinos, Protected Areas, Roads, and Tigers]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[KATHMANDU — On July 14, residents of Bharatpur town on the fringes of Chitwan National Park in Nepal set ablaze a vehicle they thought belonged to a railway survey team. The vehicle with a mounted camera was taking photos of different places in Ward No. 8 of the town on the banks of the Narayani [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[KATHMANDU — On July 14, residents of Bharatpur town on the fringes of Chitwan National Park in Nepal set ablaze a vehicle they thought belonged to a railway survey team. The vehicle with a mounted camera was taking photos of different places in Ward No. 8 of the town on the banks of the Narayani River when local people confronted it and set it ablaze after the two occupants were forced out. It had all started when around five people resting under a tree approached the vehicle and started questioning the surveyors, 21-year-old Ajit Basnet, who was operating a camera, told Annapurna Post. Soon they parked their motorcycles right in front and behind the vehicle, immobilizing it. Some people started taking photos and videos. Basnet said he tried to explain to the crowd that they were there to work on a mapping app unrelated to the project, but the crowd didn’t listen to them and set the vehicle on fire. The eastern areas of Bhartapur have been on tenterhooks following the government’s decision to realign its ambitious 945.44-kilometer (587-mile) east-west railway project to avoid Chitwan National Park, listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site and home to 128 0f the country&#8217;s 355 Bengal tigers (Panther tigris). The new proposed line now passes through the city. &#8220;The team was attempting to conduct a map survey, which our community vehemently opposes,&#8221; said Dibya Nepal, secretary of the Railway Victims Struggle Committee. “We have been highly vigilant to disallow all activities related to&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2024/07/nepals-railway-rerouting-plan-to-avoid-chitwan-park-sparks-fiery-backlash/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/07/nepals-railway-rerouting-plan-to-avoid-chitwan-park-sparks-fiery-backlash/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-285323</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Rhino poop draws all the deer (and boars and more) to the yard, study finds</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/07/rhino-poop-draws-all-the-deer-and-boars-and-more-to-the-yard-study-finds/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/07/rhino-poop-draws-all-the-deer-and-boars-and-more-to-the-yard-study-finds/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>26 Jul 2024 16:28:11 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Abhaya Raj Joshi]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Abhaya Raj Joshi]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2024/07/26161538/IMG_20240315_081824-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=285171</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, India, Nepal, and South Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Conservation, Ecosystem Engineers, Ecosystems, Grasslands, Landscape Restoration, Mammals, Megafauna, Microorganisms, One-horned Rhinos, Reintroductions, Rewilding, and Rhinos]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[KATHMANDU — Amid the tall, rustling elephant grass on the banks of a nearly stagnant Rapti River, half a dozen spotted deer approach mounds of rhino excrement. Unbeknown to them, a camera trap nearby is recording, and it catches them as, with delicate sniffs and tentative nibbles, they begin to eat this most unexpected of [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[KATHMANDU — Amid the tall, rustling elephant grass on the banks of a nearly stagnant Rapti River, half a dozen spotted deer approach mounds of rhino excrement. Unbeknown to them, a camera trap nearby is recording, and it catches them as, with delicate sniffs and tentative nibbles, they begin to eat this most unexpected of snacks. It’s not just spotted deer (Axis axis); the cast of animals drawn to these unlikely buffets is diverse. Barking deer (Muntiacus muntjak), wild boars (Sus scrofa), rhesus monkeys (Macaca mulatta) and peafowl (Pavo cristatus) were also found roaming around the droppings left by greater one-horned rhinos (Rhinoceros unicornis), according to a recently published study assessing the efficacy of reintroduction of species to habitats from which they&#8217;ve been extirpated. “We found that while some animals ate bits and pieces of the dung, others consumed herbs, seedlings or mushrooms that had grown on the dung,” study lead author Balram Awasthi, from the Chinese Academy of Sciences, told Mongabay. “Similarly, there were others that ate insects found on or near the dung or relieved themselves close to the dung or even sniffed it.” A one-honed rhino photographed at its latrine site. Image courtesy of Balram Awasthi. Rhinos, once abundant on the floodplains of the Ganga and the Indus but now restricted to patches in India and Nepal, are known to defecate in the same area time and again over a period of time. Researchers have also observed multiple rhinos choosing to poop in the same spot. This&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2024/07/rhino-poop-draws-all-the-deer-and-boars-and-more-to-the-yard-study-finds/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/07/rhino-poop-draws-all-the-deer-and-boars-and-more-to-the-yard-study-finds/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-285171</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Nepal mulls policy shift to allow hotels back into tiger strongholds</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/03/nepal-mulls-policy-shift-to-allow-hotels-back-into-tiger-strongholds/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/03/nepal-mulls-policy-shift-to-allow-hotels-back-into-tiger-strongholds/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>29 Mar 2024 02:17:43 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Abhaya Raj Joshi]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Abhaya Raj Joshi]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2024/02/15085204/bengal-tiger-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=280435</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Nepal, and South Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Business, Crime, Economics, Ecotourism, Environment, Indigenous Rights, Natural Resources, One-horned Rhinos, Rhinos, Tigers, Tourism, and UNESCO World Heritage Site]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[This is the first story in a three-part miniseries on Nepal&#8217;s development plans around protected areas. Read Part Two and Part Three. KATHMANDU — Nepal’s Ministry of Forest and Environment is preparing fresh regulations to allow hotels to return to national parks such as Chitwan, a decade after they were shut down based on environmental [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[This is the first story in a three-part miniseries on Nepal&#8217;s development plans around protected areas. Read Part Two and Part Three. KATHMANDU — Nepal’s Ministry of Forest and Environment is preparing fresh regulations to allow hotels to return to national parks such as Chitwan, a decade after they were shut down based on environmental concerns. Although rumors were doing the rounds in the corridors of the ministry and the Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation in Kathmandu for a long time, with officials neither confirming nor denying the preparation, Ministry Secretary Deepak Kumar Kharal and department chief Sindhu Dhungana spilled the beans at a program organized by the World Bank in Kathmandu recently. Kharal, addressing the program, said the government is working on a new regulation that will “open up an avenue” for private sector investment in Nepal conservation. Dhungana went a step further to say the new regulation will address policy barriers to allow the private sector, which has so far “shied away” from investing in projects inside protected areas, to do so. The Rapti river flows through Chitwan National Park. Image by Abhaya Raj Joshi. A draft of the regulation seen by Mongabay states that each hotel establishment can occupy up to a maximum of 2,000 square meters (21,527 square ft). Similarly, hotels have been classified into ‘temporary structure’ or ‘permanent structure’. While those under the first category will only be allowed to operate camp sites with up to 40 beds, facilities under the second category&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2024/03/nepal-mulls-policy-shift-to-allow-hotels-back-into-tiger-strongholds/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-280435</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Nepali experts question rhino relocation within park for population balance</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/03/nepali-experts-question-rhino-relocation-within-park-for-population-balance/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/03/nepali-experts-question-rhino-relocation-within-park-for-population-balance/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>28 Mar 2024 09:57:52 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Abhaya Raj Joshi]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Abhaya Raj Joshi]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2024/03/28095137/rhino-nepal-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=280373</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Asian Rhinos]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Nepal, and South Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Conservation, Endangered Species, Environment, Mammals, One-horned Rhinos, Protected Areas, Rewilding, Rhinos, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[KATHMANDU — On March 21, Nepal’s Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation completed the relocation of six vulnerable one-horned rhinos (Rhinoceros unicornis) from the eastern part of Chitwan National Park to the western side. Department officials initiated the move to rectify the skewed distribution of the animal’s population, which was dominant in and around [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[KATHMANDU — On March 21, Nepal’s Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation completed the relocation of six vulnerable one-horned rhinos (Rhinoceros unicornis) from the eastern part of Chitwan National Park to the western side. Department officials initiated the move to rectify the skewed distribution of the animal’s population, which was dominant in and around the western part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site. While researchers and conservationists agree with officials that this imbalance could increase competition over limited resources, leading to occasional rhino fatalities, they contend that relocation is not a sustainable approach to addressing the issue. Department officials, however, defend the move. “We decided to translocate the six rhinos following a habitat suitability study,” said senior ecologist and information officer at the department Shyam Kumar Shah. “We hope that the translocation will help create a more uniform distribution of the population throughout the park,” he added. Between 1986 and 1996, IUCN, the global conservation body, classified the animal, which likes to wallow in muddy swamps, as endangered. During this period, Nepali conservation authorities intensified efforts against poaching, a significant issue in many rhino habitats, and they played a key role in upgrading its status to vulnerable, significantly increasing the country&#8217;s rhino population. Despite this progress, concerns persist about ongoing threats to the species. Currently, the emergence of &#8220;unexplained&#8221; or &#8220;natural deaths&#8221; is causing concern. On March 21, Nepal’s Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation completed the relocation of six vulnerable one-horned rhinos from the western part of&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2024/03/nepali-experts-question-rhino-relocation-within-park-for-population-balance/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/03/nepali-experts-question-rhino-relocation-within-park-for-population-balance/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-280373</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>In biodiverse Nepal, wildlife crime fighters are underpowered but undeterred</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/10/in-biodiverse-nepal-wildlife-crime-fighters-are-underpowered-but-undeterred/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/10/in-biodiverse-nepal-wildlife-crime-fighters-are-underpowered-but-undeterred/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>16 Oct 2023 12:36:06 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Abhaya Raj Joshi]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Abhaya Raj Joshi]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2023/10/16122421/leopard-pelt-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=274282</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Illegal Wildlife Trade]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Nepal, and South Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Conservation, Crime, Environmental Law, Illegal Trade, International Trade, Law, Mammals, One-horned Rhinos, Poaching, Rhinos, and Wildlife Trafficking]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[CHITWAN, Nepal — When Hemanta Malla Thakuri, former deputy inspector-general of the Nepal Police, started training the country’s frontline wildlife crime investigators last year, he realized they operated similarly to how the police did when he joined the force nearly four decades ago. “The situation was such that we were given responsibilities, but not adequate [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[CHITWAN, Nepal — When Hemanta Malla Thakuri, former deputy inspector-general of the Nepal Police, started training the country’s frontline wildlife crime investigators last year, he realized they operated similarly to how the police did when he joined the force nearly four decades ago. “The situation was such that we were given responsibilities, but not adequate resources,” Thakuri tells Mongabay. “We had an office and we received a salary. However, we didn’t have a budget for anything, including petrol for our patrol bikes or paper to register complaints.” And like the police personnel of the 1980s, today’s wildlife crime investigators don’t have adequate training in forensic investigations and legal procedures. “That’s exactly how wildlife crime investigators are working in Nepal in the present day,” Thakuri says. Under Nepal’s conservation laws, local officers from the Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation (DNPWC) stationed at various protected areas across the country are authorized to investigate wildlife crimes (and in some cases pass verdicts) inside the protected areas and surrounding buffer zones. Wildlife crimes that occur elsewhere fall under the jurisdiction of local officers from provincial divisional forest offices. For both groups, the investigators are typically forestry graduates without any training in legal matters. “As frontline wildlife crime investigators, we face a host of challenges,” says Salina Kadal, assistant forest officer at the Bhaktapur division. “The first challenge is that as forestry students, we were only taught the theoretical aspects of conservation law. But when we joined the government service, we were directly&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2023/10/in-biodiverse-nepal-wildlife-crime-fighters-are-underpowered-but-undeterred/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/10/in-biodiverse-nepal-wildlife-crime-fighters-are-underpowered-but-undeterred/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-274282</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Conservationists urge caution as Nepal to gift more rhinos to China</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/09/conservationists-urge-caution-as-nepal-to-gift-more-rhinos-to-china/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/09/conservationists-urge-caution-as-nepal-to-gift-more-rhinos-to-china/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>30 Sep 2023 09:11:12 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Abhaya Raj Joshi]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Abhaya Raj Joshi]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2023/09/30090910/rhinos-chitwan-Nepal-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=273759</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Nepal, and South Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animal Welfare, Animals, Biodiversity, Conservation, Mammals, Megafauna, One-horned Rhinos, Rewilding, and Rhinos]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[KATHMANDU — As Nepal commits to gifting two more greater one-horned rhinos (Rhinoceros unicornis) to China, conservationists have called on authorities to exercise caution while selecting individual animals for the purpose. The decision to gift the rhinos was made during Nepal Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal’s visit to Beijing this week. “The Nepali side pledged [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[KATHMANDU — As Nepal commits to gifting two more greater one-horned rhinos (Rhinoceros unicornis) to China, conservationists have called on authorities to exercise caution while selecting individual animals for the purpose. The decision to gift the rhinos was made during Nepal Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal’s visit to Beijing this week. “The Nepali side pledged to provide the Chinese side a pair of Ek Singhe Gaida (unicorn rhino) as a gift from the Government and people of Nepal to the Government and people of China, as a symbol for the long-lasting friendship between the two countries,” said a joint statement. In 2018, Nepal gifted two pairs of rhinos, named Mitinee and Solti and Bhadra and Rupasi, to China. While Mitinee and Solti found a new home at the Shanghai Wild Animal Park, Bhadra and Rupasi found theirs in Chimelong Safari Park, Guangzhou. “Orphaned rhino calves that have grown in close contact with humans are the best candidates for gifting to zoos,” said conservationist Bed Kumar Khadka. Such rhinos have a lower chance of attacking people and are already adapted to eating human food, he added. All four rhinos were in their early stages of life when they were separated from their mothers in the jungle to be flown to China. If a pair is to be selected from the wild, it presents a challenge of its own, said Khadka, who was involved in capturing the rhinos sent to China five years ago. According to Nepal’s 2021 rhino census, Chitwan National&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2023/09/conservationists-urge-caution-as-nepal-to-gift-more-rhinos-to-china/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-273759</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>A rhino-less reserve in Nepal is set to get its first two rhino habitants</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/09/a-rhino-less-reserve-in-nepal-is-set-to-get-its-first-two-rhino-habitants/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/09/a-rhino-less-reserve-in-nepal-is-set-to-get-its-first-two-rhino-habitants/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>21 Sep 2023 14:01:43 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Abhaya Raj Joshi]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Abhaya Raj Joshi]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2023/09/21134557/nepal-rhino-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=273511</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Asian Rhinos]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Nepal, and South Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Conservation, Endangered Species, Environment, Mammals, One-horned Rhinos, Protected Areas, Rhinos, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[KATHMANDU — People living around Koshi Tappu Wildlife Reserve in eastern Nepal are preparing to welcome two very special guests on World Tourism Day, Sept. 27. Pushpa and Anjali are greater one-horned rhinos (Rhinoceros unicornis) who are being moved here from Chitwan National Park in central Nepal. The translocation of the two female rhinos is [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[KATHMANDU — People living around Koshi Tappu Wildlife Reserve in eastern Nepal are preparing to welcome two very special guests on World Tourism Day, Sept. 27. Pushpa and Anjali are greater one-horned rhinos (Rhinoceros unicornis) who are being moved here from Chitwan National Park in central Nepal. The translocation of the two female rhinos is aimed at boosting the tourism potential and biodiversity of the eastern Terai Arc region that runs across southern Nepal and northern India. “We will be translocating two rhinos to Koshi Tappu Wildlife Reserve on the occasion of World Tourism Day,” Hari Bhadra Acharya, acting director-general at the Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation told Mongabay. Although Acharya said they were yet to decide which pair will be translocated, department sources told Mongabay that Pushpa and Anjali have been chosen for the purpose. The rhinos were rescued as calves in 2019 and 2020 after being abandoned by their mothers, and cared for since then at a rehabilitation center outside Chitwan run by the National Trust for Nature Conservation, a semigovernmental body. They will be the first of their species to inhabit Koshi Tappu. The pair had previously this year been released into the wild in Chitwan, to the dismay of local residents and conservationists. They said the animals, which are habituated to humans, pose a risk to themselves and to people, and urged officials to relocate them as soon as possible A move to Koshi Tappu was one of the original options officials had considered&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2023/09/a-rhino-less-reserve-in-nepal-is-set-to-get-its-first-two-rhino-habitants/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-273511</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Wild or not? Dilemma over two human-friendly rhinos in Nepal</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/07/wild-or-not-dilemma-over-two-human-friendly-rhinos-in-nepal/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/07/wild-or-not-dilemma-over-two-human-friendly-rhinos-in-nepal/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>29 Jul 2023 11:48:38 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Abhaya Raj Joshi]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Abhaya Raj Joshi]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2023/07/29114609/IMG_20230307_102245-2-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=271555</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Nepal, and South Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Fences, Human-wildlife Conflict, Mammals, One-horned Rhinos, Poaching, Rewilding, and Rhinos]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[KATHMANDU — Somlal Majhi, a resident of Patihani near Chitwan National Park in Nepal, has an unusual job. He is a herder of rhinos. Majhi watches over two female greater one-horned rhinos (Rhinoceros unicornis) named Pushpa and Anjali. They were released into the wild by conservation authorities in May after years of human contact. Although [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[KATHMANDU — Somlal Majhi, a resident of Patihani near Chitwan National Park in Nepal, has an unusual job. He is a herder of rhinos. Majhi watches over two female greater one-horned rhinos (Rhinoceros unicornis) named Pushpa and Anjali. They were released into the wild by conservation authorities in May after years of human contact. Although the rhinos attract tourists, who enjoy taking selfies with them, Majhi says they can damage crops if they aren’t monitored. But conservationists are alarmed by the presence of the rhinos in the area. They say they pose a risk to themselves and to people and urge officials to relocate them as soon as possible. &#8220;Because they were used to humans, they started visiting nearby villages,&#8221; says Bed Khadka, a former park staffer and conservationist. “They need to be removed immediately,” he adds. “Their only shot at survival now is at a zoo in Nepal or abroad.” The rhinos were rescued as calves in 2020 and 2021, when they were injured and abandoned by their mothers. They were raised by the National Trust for Nature Conservation (NTNC), a semigovernmental body, at its office in Sauraha, near the park. They were transported by truck to a wetland near the park&#8217;s headquarters and released without tranquilizers. &#8220;Poachers could easily bait and kill them for their horns,&#8221; Khadka adds. Greater one-horned rhinos are classified as vulnerable by IUCN, the global conservation authority. Their horns are prized in traditional Chinese medicine, despite having no proven benefits. The illegal trade in&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2023/07/wild-or-not-dilemma-over-two-human-friendly-rhinos-in-nepal/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/07/wild-or-not-dilemma-over-two-human-friendly-rhinos-in-nepal/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-271555</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Nepal&#8217;s rhinos are eating plastic waste, study finds</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/06/nepals-rhinos-eating-plastic-waste-study-finds/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/06/nepals-rhinos-eating-plastic-waste-study-finds/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>30 Jun 2023 17:10:09 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Abhaya Raj Joshi]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Abhaya Raj Joshi]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2016/12/12214209/rhino-in-Chitwan-Nepal-by-Nomad-Tales-Flickr-768x510.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=270415</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Nepal, and South Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Endangered Species, Grasslands, Health, Mammals, Microplastics, One-horned Rhinos, Planetary Health, Plastic, Pollution, Rhinos, Rivers, and Water]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[KATHMANDU– Every monsoon season (June–August), Nepal’s Chitwan National Park becomes a no-go zone for tourists and locals alike. The park, home to the vulnerable one-horned rhinoceros (Rhinoceros unicornis), is flooded by the rivers that run through it, making it inaccessible and dangerous. But the water also brings an unwelcome visitor: plastic waste. When the floods [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[KATHMANDU– Every monsoon season (June–August), Nepal’s Chitwan National Park becomes a no-go zone for tourists and locals alike. The park, home to the vulnerable one-horned rhinoceros (Rhinoceros unicornis), is flooded by the rivers that run through it, making it inaccessible and dangerous. But the water also brings an unwelcome visitor: plastic waste. When the floods recede, plastic bottles, bags and sachets cover the river banks where the rhinos come to graze on the grass. A recent study has found that rhinos ingest plastic items of different sizes and shapes, which could pose a serious threat to their health and survival. The study, published in the journal Global Ecology and Conservation, analyzed 258 dung samples from the park and found that 10.1% of them contained visible plastic. The researchers found plastic balls, soft drink bottle caps, chewing tobacco sachets, polythene bags, and biscuit, chocolate, and shampoo packaging in the dung. They also found that more dung samples from the core zone of the park, where human activity is restricted, contained plastic (18%) than from the fringe zone (6%), where people live and visit. The findings come amid reports that almost all towns and villages in Chitwan dump their waste in landfills setup on the banks of the river. The waste piles up year round and is washed away by the river during the monsoon floods. The results of the dung analysis suggest that the rhinos are not only eating plastic from the river but also from other sources, such as masks,&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2023/06/nepals-rhinos-eating-plastic-waste-study-finds/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/06/nepals-rhinos-eating-plastic-waste-study-finds/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-270415</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Landmark Nepal court ruling ends impunity for wealthy wildlife collectors</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/05/landmark-nepal-court-ruling-ends-impunity-for-wealthy-wildlife-collectors/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/05/landmark-nepal-court-ruling-ends-impunity-for-wealthy-wildlife-collectors/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>30 May 2023 14:24:14 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Abhaya Raj Joshi]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Abhaya Raj Joshi]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2017/05/24015636/Nepal-2_credit-ZSL-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=269194</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Illegal Wildlife Trade]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Nepal, and South Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Conservation, Crime, Environmental Law, Law, Law Enforcement, One-horned Rhinos, Organized Crime, Poaching, Rhinos, Tigers, Wildlife Trade, and Wildlife Trafficking]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[KATHMANDU — In a landmark verdict, Nepal’s Supreme Court has directed the government to take concrete steps to implement the country’s conservation laws and seize illegal private collections of wildlife parts. Justices Sapna Pradhan Malla and Til Prasad Shrestha also ordered the government to come up with programs to massively raise awareness about the legal [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[KATHMANDU — In a landmark verdict, Nepal’s Supreme Court has directed the government to take concrete steps to implement the country’s conservation laws and seize illegal private collections of wildlife parts. Justices Sapna Pradhan Malla and Til Prasad Shrestha also ordered the government to come up with programs to massively raise awareness about the legal status of private collections, and not incinerate or destroy seized wildlife parts, as the country had previously done, but rather to use such items for educational purposes, preferably in a museum. “This is a landmark judgment in Nepal’s conservation history,” conservationist Kumar Paudel from the NGO Greenhood Nepal, who filed a writ petition at the court in 2018 that culminated in the May 30 ruling. According to the verdict, whose full text is expected to be published in the coming months, the government must issue a public notice calling on private collectors to declare their wildlife collections. The government must then seize all collections made after 1973, the year the country’s National Parks and Wildlife Conservation Act came into effect. The law states that no one is allowed to sell or distribute wildlife or its parts without permission. Paudel filed the petition on the basis of what he decried as Nepal’s double standard in enforcing its laws on wildlife crime. While largely considered among the strictest in the world, the laws tend to apply to the poor and marginalized while ignoring the elite and influential, Paudel said. He gave examples of places where wildlife parts&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2023/05/landmark-nepal-court-ruling-ends-impunity-for-wealthy-wildlife-collectors/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/05/landmark-nepal-court-ruling-ends-impunity-for-wealthy-wildlife-collectors/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-269194</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Low-key return for rescued rhino calves to Nepal’s Chitwan National Park</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/05/low-key-return-for-rescued-rhino-calves-to-nepals-chitwan-national-park/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/05/low-key-return-for-rescued-rhino-calves-to-nepals-chitwan-national-park/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>18 May 2023 15:44:29 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Abhaya Raj Joshi]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Abhaya Raj Joshi]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2023/03/21102452/IMG_20230307_102310__01-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=268765</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Nepal, and South Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animal Behavior, Animals, Biodiversity, Crime, low-tech, Mammals, One-horned Rhinos, Protected Areas, Rewilding, Rhinos, Tigers, and Wildlife Trafficking]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[KATHMANDU — Two rhino calves captured from the wild after being separated from their mothers in recent years have been released back into nature by Nepali officials. The greater one-horned rhinos (Rhinoceros unicornis), both females that conservation officials named Pushpa and Anjali, were released into the Kasara area of Chitwan National Park, home to most [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[KATHMANDU — Two rhino calves captured from the wild after being separated from their mothers in recent years have been released back into nature by Nepali officials. The greater one-horned rhinos (Rhinoceros unicornis), both females that conservation officials named Pushpa and Anjali, were released into the Kasara area of Chitwan National Park, home to most of the country&#8217;s rhinos, on May 14. The rhinos had been raised by the National Trust for Nature Conservation, a nonprofit organization that works with the government to conserve wildlife and natural resources, at its facility in the Sauraha are on the outskirts of the national park. “The duo was transported by truck to a wetland area near Kasara, where the park’s headquarters is located, and released without using any tranquilizer,” Maheshwar Dhakal, director-general of the Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation, told Mongabay. Pushpa was rescued in 2020 and Anjali in 2021. They were around two months old when they were found injured and abandoned by their mothers. “We have reasons to believe that Pushpa and Anjali were firstborns that didn’t receive adequate care,” Dr. Amir Sadaula, a veterinarian with the NTNC, told Mongabay earlier this year. “The decision to release the rhinos into the wild was made by the Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation after a committee of experts recommended us to do so,” Dhakal said. Ganesh Pant, an ecologist at the department who was on the committee, said the team considered several options for the rhinos&#8217; future, including keeping&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2023/05/low-key-return-for-rescued-rhino-calves-to-nepals-chitwan-national-park/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/05/low-key-return-for-rescued-rhino-calves-to-nepals-chitwan-national-park/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-268765</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>For rescued rhino calves in Nepal, return to the wild is a fraught option</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/03/for-rescued-rhino-calves-in-nepal-return-to-the-wild-is-a-fraught-option/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/03/for-rescued-rhino-calves-in-nepal-return-to-the-wild-is-a-fraught-option/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>22 Mar 2023 01:29:34 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Abhaya Raj Joshi]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Abhaya Raj Joshi]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2023/03/21102452/IMG_20230307_102310__01-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=266640</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Nepal, and South Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Conflict, Habitat, Human-wildlife Conflict, National Parks, One-horned Rhinos, Poaching, Protected Areas, Reintroductions, Rewilding, Rhinos, Rivers, Tigers, and Top Predators]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[CHITWAN — The chirping of birds is interrupted by the rustling of leaves and the sound of breaking twigs. It’s breakfast time at the office of the National Trust for Nature Conservation (NTNC) in Sauraha on the fringes of Nepal&#8217;s Chitwan National Park. As trust officials munch their bread with sips of tea, three juvenile [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[CHITWAN — The chirping of birds is interrupted by the rustling of leaves and the sound of breaking twigs. It’s breakfast time at the office of the National Trust for Nature Conservation (NTNC) in Sauraha on the fringes of Nepal&#8217;s Chitwan National Park. As trust officials munch their bread with sips of tea, three juvenile rhinos tuck into their own meal, grazing under the watchful eye of their caretaker. One of the rhinos even tries to finish off the leftovers of a human breakfast. These greater one-horned rhinos (Rhinoceros unicornis), now habituated to living with humans, were rescued from different parts of the national park after being separated from their mothers. Officials now face the daunting challenge of sending them back out into the wild, ensuring that they can survive amid threats from predators and poachers. Juvenile rhinos Pushpa and Anjali graze as Pooja watches on in Chitwan, Nepal. Image courtesy of Rama Mishra. They’ve named the three rhinos, all females, Pushpa, Anjali and Pooja. Pushpa was rescued three years ago, Anjali two years ago, and Pooja in October last year. All of them were only a week-old when they were brought to the trust. “Generally, female rhinos in their first pregnancy are inexperienced about motherhood and they don’t provide adequate care to their calf,” said Dr. Amir Sadaula, a veterinarian with the NTNC. “Sometimes the mother dies during delivery and other times calves get separated from their mothers due to attacks by predators such as tigers or natural calamities&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2023/03/for-rescued-rhino-calves-in-nepal-return-to-the-wild-is-a-fraught-option/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/03/for-rescued-rhino-calves-in-nepal-return-to-the-wild-is-a-fraught-option/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-266640</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Rare case of rhino poaching jolts conservation community in Nepal</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/01/rare-case-of-rhino-poaching-jolts-conservation-community-in-nepal/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/01/rare-case-of-rhino-poaching-jolts-conservation-community-in-nepal/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>23 Jan 2023 15:27:40 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Abhaya Raj Joshi]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Isabel Esterman]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2022/12/21121122/rhinos-in-nepal-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=264854</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Illegal Wildlife Trade]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Nepal, and South Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Conservation, Crime, Illegal Trade, International Trade, Mammals, One-horned Rhinos, Poaching, Protected Areas, Rhinos, and Wildlife Trafficking]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[KATHMANDU — When residents of Nandapur village on the western fringes of Nepal’s Chitwan National Park rushed to the scene of a rhino death near the Narayani River on Jan. 20, they found a heartbreaking sight.   A 14-year-old female rhino lay lifeless in a pool of blood along with her 4-year-old calf. The mother’s horn [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[KATHMANDU — When residents of Nandapur village on the western fringes of Nepal’s Chitwan National Park rushed to the scene of a rhino death near the Narayani River on Jan. 20, they found a heartbreaking sight.   A 14-year-old female rhino lay lifeless in a pool of blood along with her 4-year-old calf. The mother’s horn had been sawn off; the calf had yet to grow a horn.  “Our post-mortem shows that the two rhinos were most likely electrocuted,” said Bijay Kumar Shrestha, a veterinarian at Chitwan National Park, home to 694 of Nepal’s 752 greater one-horned rhinos (Rhinoceros unicornis).  A greater one-horned rhino inside Chitwan National Park. Image by Jonas Gratzer for Mongabay. “This is the first time in living memory that we’ve seen poachers kill rhinos in such a way,” he told Mongabay. “In the past, poachers would open fire at rhinos and security forces would hear the sound. But there’s no sound produced when the rhinos are electrocuted.” Officials said they had so far only seen rhinos accidentally zapped by electrified fences put up by residents living near the park to fend off animals such as wild boars and monkeys. When such deaths were reported, the horn would be intact. But this time around, the rhino and its calf were deliberately electrocuted to extract the adult rhino’s horn, Shrestha said.  In the past five years, 165 rhinos in and around Chitwan have died. Of these, only six were killed by poachers. In fact, Nepal received international accolades for&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2023/01/rare-case-of-rhino-poaching-jolts-conservation-community-in-nepal/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/01/rare-case-of-rhino-poaching-jolts-conservation-community-in-nepal/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-264854</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Study finds high prevalence of gut parasites in Nepal&#8217;s rhinos</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2022/04/study-finds-high-prevalence-of-gut-parasites-in-nepals-rhinos/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2022/04/study-finds-high-prevalence-of-gut-parasites-in-nepals-rhinos/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>27 Apr 2022 16:02:07 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Abhaya Raj Joshi]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Hayat Indriyatno]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2019/01/23072336/rhino-and-car-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=255208</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Nepal, and South Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Conservation, Diseases, Endangered Species, One-horned Rhinos, Rhinos, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[KATHMANDU — Decades ago, rhinos in Nepal&#8217;s Chitwan National Park were so rare that tourists who ventured on safaris in hopes of a sighting often returned disappointed. Since then, the park’s population of greater one-horned rhinos (Rhinoceros unicornis) has boomed, from around 100 in the 1970s to 694 in the 2021 census. The animals are [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[KATHMANDU — Decades ago, rhinos in Nepal&#8217;s Chitwan National Park were so rare that tourists who ventured on safaris in hopes of a sighting often returned disappointed. Since then, the park’s population of greater one-horned rhinos (Rhinoceros unicornis) has boomed, from around 100 in the 1970s to 694 in the 2021 census. The animals are now so widespread that they can even be spotted in the buffer zones outside the park, in fields also frequented by livestock such as cows and buffalos. While the growing number and range of the rhinos have been hailed as a conservation success, they’ve also had an unintended consequence: the increased interactions between rhinos and domestic livestock may be aiding the spread of harmful gastrointestinal parasites, a recent study suggests. A woman goes about with her daily chores in Amaltari, in the buffer zone of Chitwan National Park. Image by Abhaya Raj Joshi for Mongabay. The study, published in the journal Annals of Parasitology, shows a high prevalence of parasite eggs and larvae, including roundworms and tapeworms, in the Chitwan rhinos. &#8220;We found the prevalence of 13 different genera of parasites belonging to four different classes,&#8221; lead author Prashamsa Paudel, from Tribhuvan University in Kathmandu, told Mongabay. &#8220;We hadn&#8217;t expected to find so many types of parasites in rhinos in Chitwan.&#8221; Nepali authorities, lauded for winning the fight against poachers and increasing the country’s rhino population to unprecedented numbers, have been worried that threats to the species persist as the animals continue to die in&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2022/04/study-finds-high-prevalence-of-gut-parasites-in-nepals-rhinos/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2022/04/study-finds-high-prevalence-of-gut-parasites-in-nepals-rhinos/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-255208</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Low genetic diversity is part of rhinos’ long-term history, study says</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2021/08/low-genetic-diversity-is-part-of-rhinos-long-term-history-study-says/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2021/08/low-genetic-diversity-is-part-of-rhinos-long-term-history-study-says/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>31 Aug 2021 10:35:52 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Carolyn Cowan]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Carolyncowan]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2021/08/31090616/Paleoartist-illustration-see-caption-above-CREDIT-Beth-Zaiken-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=246556</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Asian Rhinos]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, India, Indonesia, Nepal, siberia, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Black Rhino, Captive Breeding, Conservation, DNA, Endangered Species, Environment, Evolution, Extinction, Genetics, Javan Rhinos, Mammals, One-horned Rhinos, Research, Rhinos, Sumatran Rhino, White Rhino, and Wildlife Trade]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Scientists have debated the evolution of the world’s five living rhinoceros species ever since Charles Darwin addressed the question in a treatise in the mid-1800s, predating On the Origin of Species. Three main schools of thought prevail. The “horn hypothesis” suggests that rhinos with two horns evolved separately from those with only one horn; this [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Scientists have debated the evolution of the world’s five living rhinoceros species ever since Charles Darwin addressed the question in a treatise in the mid-1800s, predating On the Origin of Species. Three main schools of thought prevail. The “horn hypothesis” suggests that rhinos with two horns evolved separately from those with only one horn; this groups Sumatran rhinos (Dicerorhinus sumatrensis) with the two African species, the black rhino (Diceros bicornis) and the white rhino (Ceratotherium simum), all of which have two horns. The “geographical hypothesis” sets the two African species apart from the three Asian species: the Sumatran rhino, the Javan rhino (Rhinoceros sondaicus), and the greater one-horned rhino (R. unicornis) that lives in India and Nepal. A third proposal is that the uniquely small and hairy Sumatran rhino, the only Asian species with two horns, is in an entirely separate group from the other four species. Now, an international team of scientists has shed light on the mystery. By analyzing the genomes of the five living rhino species and three that went extinct during the last Ice Age, they found strong evidence that the rhino tree of life branches according to geographic region, not by number of horns. The two African species diverged from the three Asian species roughly 16 million years ago, according to the findings recently published in Cell. All five living rhino species have suffered significant population declines due to decades of habitat loss and poaching. Many populations are now small and isolated with low genetic&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2021/08/low-genetic-diversity-is-part-of-rhinos-long-term-history-study-says/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2021/08/low-genetic-diversity-is-part-of-rhinos-long-term-history-study-says/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-246556</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>At India&#8217;s Assam Zoo, decades of experience lead to rhino-breeding success</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2019/10/at-indias-assam-zoo-decades-of-experience-lead-to-rhino-breeding-success/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2019/10/at-indias-assam-zoo-decades-of-experience-lead-to-rhino-breeding-success/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>16 Oct 2019 05:43:48 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Bikash Kumar Bhattacharya]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Isabel Esterman]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2019/10/16051530/Screen-Shot-2019-10-08-at-4.20.40-PM-768x512.png" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=223466</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Asian Rhinos]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, India, and South Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Captive Breeding, Conservation, Environment, Ex-situ Conservation, Happy-upbeat Environmental, Mammals, One-horned Rhinos, Rhinos, Saving Species From Extinction, Solutions, Videos, and Zoos]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[GUWAHATI, India — One August afternoon in 1991, rangers at India&#8217;s Kaziranga National Park rescued a startled rhino calf. The young female, believed to be just a few months old, had just survived a tiger attack and was separated from her mother in the melee. It was a tough start in life for the little [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[GUWAHATI, India — One August afternoon in 1991, rangers at India&#8217;s Kaziranga National Park rescued a startled rhino calf. The young female, believed to be just a few months old, had just survived a tiger attack and was separated from her mother in the melee. It was a tough start in life for the little calf, named Baghekhaiti by her rescuers, the local Assamese for &#8220;eaten or bitten by a tiger.&#8221; But she survived her injuries, and would go on to give birth to the first greater one-horned rhino (Rhinoceros unicornis) calf born in the Indian state of Assam as part of an ambitious captive-breeding programme launched by India’s Central Zoo Authority (CZA) in 2011. “Baghekhaiti, whose right leg still bears the scar of that tiger attack, was brought to the Assam State Zoo on 10 August, 1991,&#8221; says Govinda Sharma, a keeper at the Guwahati-based zoo and botanical garden, who has been looking after the rhino since 1993. “Now she’s around 28. Since her arrival at the zoo she’s delivered two calves … So, she’s very special.” According to the CZA, the program’s objective is to build a stock of healthy captive rhinos to serve as insurance for the future, should the species face extinction in the wild again.  Two zoos have been designated as part of the program: the Assam State Zoo, and Bihar state&#8217;s Patna Zoo, where six calves have been born since 2011. The greater one-horned rhino has made a spectacular comeback once before, thanks to&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2019/10/at-indias-assam-zoo-decades-of-experience-lead-to-rhino-breeding-success/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-223466</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>For India’s flood-hit rhinos, refuge depends increasingly on humans</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2019/10/for-indias-flood-hit-rhinos-refuge-depends-increasingly-on-humans/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2019/10/for-indias-flood-hit-rhinos-refuge-depends-increasingly-on-humans/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>09 Oct 2019 05:16:41 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Manon Verchot]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Manon]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2019/10/09020612/THE_GREAT_INDIAN_ONE_HORNED_RHINO_BASKING_IN_THE_MORNING_SUN_AT_KAZIRANGA_RESERVE-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=223232</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Asian Rhinos]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, India, and South Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Conservation, Environment, Extreme Weather, Grasslands, Mammals, One-horned Rhinos, Protected Areas, Rhinos, Videos, Wetlands, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[When the flood waters began to rise in India’s Kaziranga National Park in July, five greater one-horned rhino calves found themselves separated from their mothers and stranded in deep water. Wildlife rescuers usually try to reunite calves with their mothers. But during the peak of the floods, with most of the park submerged under water [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[When the flood waters began to rise in India’s Kaziranga National Park in July, five greater one-horned rhino calves found themselves separated from their mothers and stranded in deep water. Wildlife rescuers usually try to reunite calves with their mothers. But during the peak of the floods, with most of the park submerged under water and with hundreds of animals needing rescue, they often fail. “Looking for a mother during floods is near to impossible,” says Rathin Barman, joint director of the Wildlife Trust of India (WTI). The five lost calves were brought to a rescue center run by the WTI, the Assam Forest Department and the International Fund for Animal Welfare. They will stay in the center until they are two-and-a-half years old, according to Barman, who also heads the center. They will be hand-reared by a team of carers on human infant formula. It will be years before they’re re-released into the wild — if at all. Two of the baby rhinos rescued in the 2019 floods in Kaziranga National Park. Image courtesy Wildlife Trust of India. Kaziranga is famous for having the world’s largest population of greater one-horned rhinos (Rhinoceros unicornis), with more than 2,400 individuals out of the estimated 3,500 globally. It’s also known for its annual floods during the monsoon season. “Kaziranga is a flood plain ecosystem and we need floods,” Barman says. “If tomorrow God decides there will be no floods in Kaziranga, then there will be no Kaziranga.” The park usually has multiple&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2019/10/for-indias-flood-hit-rhinos-refuge-depends-increasingly-on-humans/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2019/10/for-indias-flood-hit-rhinos-refuge-depends-increasingly-on-humans/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-223232</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>On World Rhino Day, looking back on an eventful year</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2019/09/on-world-rhino-day-looking-back-on-an-eventful-year/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2019/09/on-world-rhino-day-looking-back-on-an-eventful-year/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>22 Sep 2019 08:39:43 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Mongabay.com]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Isabel Esterman]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2017/11/08151356/indonesia_160535-banner-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=222720</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Asian Rhinos]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Asia, and Global]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Black Rhino, Conservation, Endangered Species, Environment, Javan Rhinos, Mammals, One-horned Rhinos, Rhinos, Sumatran Rhino, White Rhino, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
											<grant>
							<![CDATA[DFFF2019N - AR]]>
						</grant>
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[September 22 marks World Rhino Day, a global event established to celebrate the world&#8217;s five rhinoceros species, as well as to reflect on the challenges facing them. Of the five rhino species living in Africa and Asia, three are listed by the IUCN as Critically Endangered: Javan Rhinos (Rhinoceros sondaicus), Sumatran rhinos (Dicerorhinus sumatrensis) and [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[September 22 marks World Rhino Day, a global event established to celebrate the world&#8217;s five rhinoceros species, as well as to reflect on the challenges facing them. Of the five rhino species living in Africa and Asia, three are listed by the IUCN as Critically Endangered: Javan Rhinos (Rhinoceros sondaicus), Sumatran rhinos (Dicerorhinus sumatrensis) and black rhinos (Diceros bicornis). Meanwhile, White rhinos (Ceratotherium simum) are considered near threatened, and greater one-horned rhinos (Rhinoceros unicornis) vulnerable to extinction. The year that has elapsed since World Rhino Day 2018 has been a momentous one for rhinos and for the people working to protect them. Regardless of its conservation status, each species faces dangers ranging from poaching to tsunamis to overcrowding in protected areas. But it&#8217;s not all bad news, with conservation efforts sparking an upturn in numbers for several species and subspecies. Even in the most seemingly desperate cases, small victories can be found, such as the relaunch of a captive breeding program in Sumatra. Here, we look back at Mongabay&#8217;s coverage of some of the biggest stories. A southern white rhinoceros (Ceratotherium simum simum) in South Africa. White rhinos have recovered from near extinction in the early 1900s to around 18,000 today, but are threatened by a poaching crisis. The northern white rhino (Ceratotherium simum cottoni), however, hovers on the brink of extinction with just two individual females known to survive. Image by Rhett A. Butler/Mongabay. China rescinds, then reinstates, rhino horn ban The Chinese government announced on Oct. 29, 2018&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2019/09/on-world-rhino-day-looking-back-on-an-eventful-year/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-222720</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Nepal to conduct, self-fund, rhino census in March 2020</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2019/09/nepal-to-conduct-self-fund-rhino-census-in-march-2020/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2019/09/nepal-to-conduct-self-fund-rhino-census-in-march-2020/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>11 Sep 2019 04:51:47 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Abhaya Raj Joshi]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Isabel Esterman]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2017/05/05104504/rhino-in-Chitwan-Nepal-by-Nomad-Tales-Flickr-768x510.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=222305</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Asian Rhinos]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Nepal, and South Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Conservation, Environment, Governance, Mammals, One-horned Rhinos, Rhinos, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
											<grant>
							<![CDATA[DFFF2019N - AR]]>
						</grant>
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[KATHMANDU, Nepal — Nepal&#8217;s government plans to conduct a census of greater one-horned rhinos (Rhinoceros unicornis) in March 2020, a year after postponing the count due to lack of funds. The count will be funded by the government, unlike previous years when authorities relied on donors to fund the census, which is expected to cost [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[KATHMANDU, Nepal — Nepal&#8217;s government plans to conduct a census of greater one-horned rhinos (Rhinoceros unicornis) in March 2020, a year after postponing the count due to lack of funds. The count will be funded by the government, unlike previous years when authorities relied on donors to fund the census, which is expected to cost around 16 million rupees ($140,000). The Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation lobbied for the government to allocate money for the count after it failed to raise the funds necessary to conduct a planned count earlier this year. As a result, during the recent budget speech for the new fiscal year, Finance Minister Yubraj Khatiwada announced, &#8220;A conservation action plan will be prepared, and a census of rare wildlife species and those on the verge of extinction will be carried out.&#8221; The government has allocated 11 million rupees ($96,400) for the count and will request that NGOs contribute the remaining 5 million rupees, Ram Chandra Kandel, assistant director general of the Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation, told Mongabay. The government announcement comes as significant numbers of Nepal’s rhinos have been dying due to unknown or natural causes. Since mid-July 2018, 45 rhinos have been found dead in and around Chitwan National Park, the country&#8217;s main rhino sanctuary. The deaths have prompted calls to assess whether Chitwan is hosting more rhinos than its ecosystem is able to support. Officials say the new census is important as it will provide a clear picture of&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2019/09/nepal-to-conduct-self-fund-rhino-census-in-march-2020/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-222305</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Calls for natural solution over man-made one in flood-ravaged rhino refuge</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2019/08/calls-for-natural-solution-over-man-made-one-in-flood-ravaged-rhino-refuge/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2019/08/calls-for-natural-solution-over-man-made-one-in-flood-ravaged-rhino-refuge/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>29 Aug 2019 08:25:55 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Azera Parveen Rahman]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Shreya Dasgupta]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2017/06/07115358/DSC_5399-768x512.jpeg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=221943</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Asian Rhinos]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, India, and South Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Conservation, Endangered Species, Environment, Forests, Green, One-horned Rhinos, Rhinos, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
											<grant>
							<![CDATA[DFFF2016]]>
						</grant>
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Last month, an image of a tiger fleeing from the floods that inundated much of Kaziranga National Park in the northeastern state of Assam in India went viral on social media. Other animals weren’t so lucky; the floods killed more than 200 animals, including 18 greater one-horned rhinos. Among the most telling images of the [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Last month, an image of a tiger fleeing from the floods that inundated much of Kaziranga National Park in the northeastern state of Assam in India went viral on social media. Other animals weren’t so lucky; the floods killed more than 200 animals, including 18 greater one-horned rhinos. Among the most telling images of the devastation the floods caused was that of a group of rhinos huddled on a patch of dry land in the submerged national park. Presumably exhausted, some of the animals were lying down, while one tried to clamber up from the surrounding water. There have been similar pictures of helpless animals standing atop highlands created inside the national park to offer relief during the annual floods. Kaziranga has 144 such artificial highlands. Thirty-three of them were sanctioned three years ago in the hope that that they would help bring down animal mortalities during the floods that hit Assam every year. But are these artificial highlands beneficial in the long run, both for the national park’s fragile ecosystem and the animals? Are they a long-term solution, given that Assam gets ravaged by floods every year, floods that often come in more than one wave? Environmentalists aren’t convinced. A female tiger fleeing the flooded Kaziranga National Park for the higher grounds of the Karbi Anglong hills took shelter in a store. Image by the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW)/Wildlife Trust of India (WTI). Pankaj Sharma, the divisional forest officer of Nameri National Park, also in Assam, said&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2019/08/calls-for-natural-solution-over-man-made-one-in-flood-ravaged-rhino-refuge/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-221943</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Death on the Brahmaputra: The rhino, the rangers, and the usual suspects</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2019/08/death-on-the-brahmaputra-the-rhino-the-rangers-and-the-usual-suspects/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2019/08/death-on-the-brahmaputra-the-rhino-the-rangers-and-the-usual-suspects/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>28 Aug 2019 15:41:57 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Bikash Kumar Bhattacharya]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Isabel Esterman]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2019/08/28105841/The-rhino-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=221954</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Asian Rhinos]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, India, and South Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Conservation, Environment, Mammals, One-horned Rhinos, Poaching, Protected Areas, Rhinos, Wildlife, Wildlife Trade, and Wildlife Trafficking]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
											<grant>
							<![CDATA[DFFF2016]]>
						</grant>
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Mongabay investigates the disappearance, death and discovery of a wandering rhino in Northeast India.]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[ASSAM, India — On Feb. 5, 2018, rangers at Orang National Park in the northeast Indian state of Assam received multiple phone calls from villagers reporting sightings of a stray rhino. Dawdling and lounging on one of the numerous islands in the Brahmaputra River, the rhino had traveled about 10 kilometers (6 miles) from the safety of the park, which harbors 102 greater one-horned rhinoceroses (Rhinoceros unicornis). It isn’t uncommon for rhinos to stray out of the protected habitats in Assam. A study in one sanctuary, Pobitora, found that as many as 40 percent of the rhinos there wandered in and out of the sanctuary&#8217;s borders on a daily basis. Monitoring these animals, and if necessary corralling them back to safety, is a regular part of the state forest department&#8217;s job. This particular case, however, would come to a bad end for both the rhino and the wildlife department. Eight months after the rhino first wandered out of Orang, rangers completely lost track of her — a lapse forest officials only publicly acknowledged after it was leaked to the media. She wasn&#8217;t seen again until June 2019, when her skeleton was unearthed in the vicinity of a forest guard encampment, leaving forest officials facing uncomfortable questions about what exactly happened to the animal, and why officials had suppressed and distorted information about her disappearance. A group of forest officials including Kaziranga National Park director P Shivkumar (second from left), Orang National Park administrator Ramesh Kumar Gogoi (third from left) and&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2019/08/death-on-the-brahmaputra-the-rhino-the-rangers-and-the-usual-suspects/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-221954</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Is the rhino horn trade a cartel? Economic analysis suggests it works like one</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2019/08/is-the-rhino-horn-trade-a-cartel-economic-analysis-suggests-it-works-like-one/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2019/08/is-the-rhino-horn-trade-a-cartel-economic-analysis-suggests-it-works-like-one/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>12 Aug 2019 05:04:35 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Abhaya Raj Joshi]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Isabel Esterman]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2017/02/09073516/white-rhino-kruger-r-butler-768x512.jpeg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=221224</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Asian Rhinos]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Asia, India, and South Africa]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Conservation, Economics, Endangered Species, Environment, Mammals, One-horned Rhinos, Poaching, Rhinos, White Rhino, Wildlife, Wildlife Trade, and Wildlife Trafficking]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
											<grant>
							<![CDATA[DFFF2016]]>
						</grant>
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[When economist Adrian Lopes read a recent report by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), a question popped into his mind. The report, which described rhino poaching and counter-poaching measures, talked about the link between the countries where rhinos are found and countries where rhino horns were in great demand for their purported medicinal properties. The [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
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							<![CDATA[When economist Adrian Lopes read a recent report by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), a question popped into his mind. The report, which described rhino poaching and counter-poaching measures, talked about the link between the countries where rhinos are found and countries where rhino horns were in great demand for their purported medicinal properties. The economic researcher in him thought there was another piece of the puzzle to explore. “The report briefly mentioned South Africa, Asia and India as the main source countries for rhino horns, which made their way to China and Vietnam,” says Lopes, an assistant professor at the American University in Sharjah, United Arab Emirates. “But it did not talk about the link between the source countries.” Lopes decided to examine the issue in a paper recently published in the Australian Journal of Agriculture and Resource Economics. Having previously researched the rise of poaching in India&#8217;s Kaziranga National Park, he had an idea about where to start looking for answers. Of all the rhino range countries, only India and South Africa make available detailed, long-term and up-to-date records of poaching cases, he says. (Nepal also maintains detailed records, but poaching numbers there are too low to provide much data.) Lopes&#8217;s curiosity grew when he compared the graphs of poaching cases in the two range countries. “I noticed that when the number of poaching cases rose in South Africa, a similar spike could be seen in India. Similarly, a fall in India would correspond to a fall in&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2019/08/is-the-rhino-horn-trade-a-cartel-economic-analysis-suggests-it-works-like-one/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
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										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2019/08/is-the-rhino-horn-trade-a-cartel-economic-analysis-suggests-it-works-like-one/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-221224</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Keeping stray rhinos safe is a challenge on fringes of Nepal park</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2019/06/keeping-stray-rhinos-safe-is-a-challenge-on-fringes-of-nepal-park/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2019/06/keeping-stray-rhinos-safe-is-a-challenge-on-fringes-of-nepal-park/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>26 Jun 2019 06:01:35 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Abhaya Raj Joshi]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Isabel Esterman]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2019/06/26055632/rhino-banner-768x409.jpeg" type="image/jpeg" />
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											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Asian Rhinos]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Conservation, Environment, Environmental Law, Governance, Green, Mammals, One-horned Rhinos, Protected Areas, Rhinos, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
											<grant>
							<![CDATA[DFFF2016]]>
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											<description>
							<![CDATA[SAURAHA, Nepal — Barbecue smoke and soft reggae music fill the air as tourists lounge on the banks of the Rapti River in Sauraha, the eastern gateway to Nepal&#8217;s Chitwan National Park. Suddenly the music stops, replaced by an announcement: &#8220;Please exercise caution, a rhino is heading this way.&#8221; As a greater-one horned rhino (Rhinoceros [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[SAURAHA, Nepal — Barbecue smoke and soft reggae music fill the air as tourists lounge on the banks of the Rapti River in Sauraha, the eastern gateway to Nepal&#8217;s Chitwan National Park. Suddenly the music stops, replaced by an announcement: &#8220;Please exercise caution, a rhino is heading this way.&#8221; As a greater-one horned rhino (Rhinoceros unicornis) ambles out of the water, tourists either scramble for safer seating or reach for their smartphones in hopes of a selfie. Local residents, however, take the visit into stride. &#8220;It is not uncommon for rhinos to stroll through human settlements on the banks of the river. They come, enter people&#8217;s settlements sometimes, but the people don&#8217;t do any harm to the animal as they know they are protected by law,&#8221; says Sagar Giri, who runs a hotel in Sauraha. While these promenades delight tourists, they present a potential hazard for the rhinos, even though people don&#8217;t seek to harm them. It was during one of these walks that a rhino fell into a septic tank at a home in Sauraha in February 2018. (Sewage pits are the norm in town, since there’s no local sewage treatment plant, and draining waste into the river is prohibited). According to reports, the lid of the tank collapsed under the animal’s weight. An army team had to be called in to rescue the rhino, which survived the ordeal. Immediately after the incident, Chitwan National Park authorities issued a warning letter to community forest user groups, hotels, guides and&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2019/06/keeping-stray-rhinos-safe-is-a-challenge-on-fringes-of-nepal-park/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-219821</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Homestay programs in Nepal’s rhino hub hold promise and pitfalls for locals</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2019/06/homestay-programs-in-nepals-rhino-hub-hold-promise-and-pitfalls-for-locals/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2019/06/homestay-programs-in-nepals-rhino-hub-hold-promise-and-pitfalls-for-locals/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>12 Jun 2019 06:58:11 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Abhaya Raj Joshi]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Isabel Esterman]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2019/06/12063907/shanker-chaudhary-amaltari-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=219411</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Asian Rhinos]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Nepal, and South Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Community-based Conservation, Conservation, Ecotourism, Environment, Forests, Green, Mammals, One-horned Rhinos, Rhinos, Tourism, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
											<grant>
							<![CDATA[DFFF2016]]>
						</grant>
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[NAWALPUR DISTRICT, Nepal — A few kilometers from the town of Danda along the East-West Highway in Nepal&#8217;s southern plains, the road diverges. One fork leads to Barauli, the other to Amaltari — both home to a predominantly Tharu ethnic population on the western edge of Chitwan National Park, famous for its greater one-horned rhinos. [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[NAWALPUR DISTRICT, Nepal — A few kilometers from the town of Danda along the East-West Highway in Nepal&#8217;s southern plains, the road diverges. One fork leads to Barauli, the other to Amaltari — both home to a predominantly Tharu ethnic population on the western edge of Chitwan National Park, famous for its greater one-horned rhinos. &#8220;Which way do you want to go?&#8221; asks the auto-rickshaw driver. &#8220;Most Nepalis who come here want me to take them to Amaltari, foreigners ask for Barauli,&#8221; he says. Both Amaltari and Barauli host home stays, a bed-and-breakfast program for tourists seeking a local experience by living with the community. Both were setup in the buffer zone of the park after the government introduced its Home Stay Working Procedure in 2010, which sets standards for urban and rural households to run homestays. But the similarities end there. &#8220;Let&#8217;s promote eco-tourism by conserving biodiversity. Amaltari Bufferzone Homestay welcomes you,&#8221; reads a sign in Amaltari. Image by Abhaya Raj Joshi for Mongabay. On a summer evening in Amaltari, awarded the best homestay program in 2017 by the ministry of tourism, big yellow buses with “English School” emblazoned on them honk their way through the narrow road, dropping children home. While men sit in the shade of trees, relaxing after a day’s work in the field, women are busy chopping vegetables for dinner. On both sides of the road, visitors can see who owns each homestay unit. “This is homestay #19, I am its owner.That is what the&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2019/06/homestay-programs-in-nepals-rhino-hub-hold-promise-and-pitfalls-for-locals/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-219411</doi>				</item>
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					<title>No rhino census this year as Nepal runs short of funds for survey</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2019/04/no-rhino-census-this-year-as-nepal-runs-short-of-funds-for-survey/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2019/04/no-rhino-census-this-year-as-nepal-runs-short-of-funds-for-survey/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>11 Apr 2019 08:23:51 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Abhaya Raj Joshi]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Isabel Esterman]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2017/07/19124013/rhino-closeup-flickr-768x512.jpeg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=217383</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Asian Rhinos]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Nepal, and South Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Conservation, Environment, Governance, Mammals, One-horned Rhinos, Politics, Protected Areas, Rhinos, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
											<grant>
							<![CDATA[DFFF2016]]>
						</grant>
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[KATHMANDU, Nepal — A planned census of Nepal&#8217;s greater one-horned rhinoceroses (Rhinoceros unicornis) will not take place this year. &#8220;The count has been postponed,&#8221; Bishnu Shrestha, a spokesman for the Department of Wildlife and National Parks, told Mongabay. Only 60 percent of the necessary funds were raised, he said. Conducting an accurate count of rhinos [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[KATHMANDU, Nepal — A planned census of Nepal&#8217;s greater one-horned rhinoceroses (Rhinoceros unicornis) will not take place this year. &#8220;The count has been postponed,&#8221; Bishnu Shrestha, a spokesman for the Department of Wildlife and National Parks, told Mongabay. Only 60 percent of the necessary funds were raised, he said. Conducting an accurate count of rhinos is a massive undertaking. The previous census, conducted in 2015, involved 267 people and 54 elephants. This year&#8217;s operation was expected to cost around 10 million rupees ($100,000), Man Bahadur Khadka, the director-general of the Department of Wildlife and National Parks, told Mongabay last week. Nepal&#8217;s main rhino sanctuary, Chitwan National Park, received more than 150,000 tourists during the 2018-19 fiscal year, bringing in 167.8 million rupees ($1.52 million) in revenue. But the park is unable to use those funds to finance programs like the census. By law, half of the park&#8217;s revenue goes to local communities, while the other half goes into the central government&#8217;s general budget. Counting rhinos is not a priority for the government, which must also allocate funds for important programs related to health and education, said a former wildlife department official. Meanwhile, park authorities rely on donors like Nepal&#8217;s National Trust for Nature Conservation (NTNC), the WWF and the Zoological Society of London to finance the census. Wildlife officials are advocating for a change in policy. &#8220;As the government is working on the new budget, we are proposing that the whole process be funded by the government,&#8221; Shrestha said. A&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2019/04/no-rhino-census-this-year-as-nepal-runs-short-of-funds-for-survey/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-217383</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Better than sex? For hard-to-breed rhinos, technology strives for a solution</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2019/03/better-than-sex-for-hard-to-breed-rhinos-technology-strives-for-a-solution/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2019/03/better-than-sex-for-hard-to-breed-rhinos-technology-strives-for-a-solution/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>28 Mar 2019 05:34:08 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Jim Tan]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Isabel Esterman]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2019/03/28050627/Image-3-terri-andalas-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=216952</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Asian Rhinos]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Asia, Global, and North America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Black Rhino, Captive Breeding, Conservation, Endangered Species, Environment, Ex-situ Conservation, Javan Rhinos, Mammals, Megafauna, Northern White Rhino, One-horned Rhinos, Rhinos, Sumatran Rhino, White Rhino, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
											<grant>
							<![CDATA[DFFF2016]]>
						</grant>
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[In March 2018, Sudan, the last known northern white rhino (Ceratotherium simum cottoni) male, was euthanized at the Ol Pejeta Conservancy in Kenya. With only two known female northern white rhinos remaining, Sudan’s death rendered his sub-species functionally extinct. However, not all scientists have given up hope. A team of researchers at San Diego Zoo [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[In March 2018, Sudan, the last known northern white rhino (Ceratotherium simum cottoni) male, was euthanized at the Ol Pejeta Conservancy in Kenya. With only two known female northern white rhinos remaining, Sudan’s death rendered his sub-species functionally extinct. However, not all scientists have given up hope. A team of researchers at San Diego Zoo has embarked on an ambitious project to use assisted reproductive technology (ART) to bring the northern white rhino back from the brink. They aim to use northern white rhino skin cells held in the zoo&#8217;s cryo-lab to produce stem cells they hope could ultimately grow into viable eggs and sperm. It’s one of four similarly audacious projects currently underway around the world. ARTs, which aim to tackle fertility problems using techniques such as artificial insemination (AI) and in vitro fertilization (IVF), have been used successfully in humans and domestic livestock since the 1970s. The potential for ART to improve breeding success and diversify the gene pool has obvious appeal for wildlife managers caring for endangered species like rhinos that don’t breed well in captivity. However, a recent article published in Mammal Review  summarizing more than two decades of ART use on captive rhinos illustrates that the technology’s full potential has yet to be achieved when it comes to these animals. The knowledge researchers have gained has already proved invaluable, largely in assisting natural breeding, but the vision of creating a viable rhino embryo outside of the womb is still some way off. Ultrasound image of&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2019/03/better-than-sex-for-hard-to-breed-rhinos-technology-strives-for-a-solution/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-216952</doi>				</item>
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