21 rhinos have died in Chitwan National Park (CNP) in the past 10 months of the current fiscal year.

According to Ganesh Prasad Tiwari, Information Officer at the national park, two rhinos fell victim to poaching, while the remaining 19 succumbed to natural causes.

The dead rhinos comprised seven males, seven females, and seven whose gender remains undetermined. Their deaths have been attributed to various factors such as getting trapped in swamps to in-fighting, ageing, tiger attacks, poaching, human activities, and even electrocution.

Tiwari emphasized the escalating threat posed by habitat-related issues as a contributing factor. “Managing grasslands and wetlands will help in rhino conservation,” he remarked. To address this concern, park authorities have undertaken initiatives such as establishing new wetlands, restoring existing ones, and managing grasslands to bolster rhino conservation efforts.

Currently, the park is home to 694 rhinos. To manage the increasing rhino population, some of them have been relocated to the eastern region, given the western part of the park’s saturation as a suitable habitat for the rare one-horned rhinos.