DistantNews
Support us
🇳🇵 Nepal /Environment & Climate

Rhino sightings in Chitwan’s urban areas raise conservation concerns

From Kathmandu Post · () English

Summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

News Sources not specified Context piece
  • Rhinos are increasingly sighted in urban areas of Bharatpur, Nepal, prompting concerns about the encroachment of human settlements into their habitat.
  • Residents near Chitwan National Park report growing fear and loss due to frequent rhino encounters, with some encounters proving deadly.
  • Wildlife experts suggest that human settlements and roads are expanding into rhino habitats rather than the animals entering urban areas.

Rhinos are becoming a common sight in the urban areas of Bharatpur, Nepal, blurring the lines between wildlife habitat and human settlements. Scenes of one-horned rhinoceroses running through city streets at night, with onlookers filming and residents stepping back in alarm, are no longer rare.

A rhino can appear anywhere in Chitwan at any time. That is not unusual. This is its home. We need to remain cautious.

· Apil GhimireA resident of Patihani in Bharatpur, commenting on a social media post showing a rhino in the city.

This growing presence has sparked debate about whether rhinos are entering cities or if human settlements are expanding into their territory. Chitwan National Park, the primary habitat for the greater one-horned rhinoceros, attracts many tourists, but the increasing movement of these animals outside protected zones is altering life in nearby communities.

While rhino sightings can be a spectacle, many residents living near the park express constant fear and have suffered losses. Tej Bahadur Pathak, 65, was killed by a rhino in January while grazing livestock near his home in Bharatpur. His wife, Ambika Pathak, recounted the tragic event, stating they could not search for him at night due to frequent rhino sightings in the area.

The rhinos have not entered human settlements. It is the settlements and roads that have entered their habitat. This should not be surprising.

· Dadi SapkotaA wildlife researcher commenting on a video of rhinos fighting on a road in Sauraha.

Residents report a steady increase in rhino movement into residential areas over the past few years. Rajendra Kandel, chair of a local development committee, noted that seven or eight rhinos have been seen in a nearby municipal forest, a place previously devoid of such sightings. He emphasized that these sightings have become much more frequent in the last year, raising significant concerns among the community.

He used to go out with livestock and return late in the evening. That night he never came back. We found his body around one to one-and-a-half kilometres from home. We could not go searching at night because rhinos are often seen nearby. Someone found him in the morning and informed us.

· Ambika PathakDescribing the circumstances of her husband's death due to a rhino attack.
About this summary

Originally published by Kathmandu Post. Summarized and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

More Stories

From Our Blog