Rhino killing in Nepal sparks probe
Source: Agencies |
June 15, 2010, Tuesday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
NEPAL'S government was investigating the poaching of rhinos in the Himalayan nation after 28 of the endangered animals were killed over the past 11 months, an official said yesterday.
Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal and Forest Minister Deepak Bohara ordered conservation officials and the chiefs of police and army on Sunday to come up with a strategy to halt the killings.
The rhinos are protected by the government, and the forests are declared conservation areas. Security forces are tasked with guarding them; however increased political turmoil in Nepal has meant their redeployment to urban areas.
"Stopping the poaching is a major challenge for us. There is always an increase in poaching of wildlife in the conservation area when there are political problems," Department of Forest and Wildlife Conservation official Megh Bahadur Pandey said.
Indian rhinos are native to north India and south Nepal. Only about 200 remained before tough preservation laws began to be stringently enforced in the 20th century. Now there are an estimated 2,500 in the wild, though rhino poaching remains a serious problem.
Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal and Forest Minister Deepak Bohara ordered conservation officials and the chiefs of police and army on Sunday to come up with a strategy to halt the killings.
The rhinos are protected by the government, and the forests are declared conservation areas. Security forces are tasked with guarding them; however increased political turmoil in Nepal has meant their redeployment to urban areas.
"Stopping the poaching is a major challenge for us. There is always an increase in poaching of wildlife in the conservation area when there are political problems," Department of Forest and Wildlife Conservation official Megh Bahadur Pandey said.
Indian rhinos are native to north India and south Nepal. Only about 200 remained before tough preservation laws began to be stringently enforced in the 20th century. Now there are an estimated 2,500 in the wild, though rhino poaching remains a serious problem.
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