Nepal is all set to start counting the rhinos in the country from 22 March. The census- earlier scheduled for the last year- is being done after a gap of six-years now, and the last one, conducted in 2015, had found the rhinos count 645.

According to a report in The Kathmandu Post, the staff and personnel will be trained for the exercise which will continue for three weeks. Chitwan National Park and Bardiya National Park are home to most rhinos in the country but Shuklaphanta National Park and Parsa National Park also house some of them.

Haribhadra Archarya, the spokesperson for the Department of National Park and Wildlife Conservation, speaking to The Kathmandu Post said, “The plan is to conclude the census within three weeks. It could take a few days more or less because we expect that more time and efforts will be required to count the rhinos in Chitwan.”

The government has already allocated $68000 for the budget. The department had purchased the equipment required for the exercise last year.

The census, also important to devise an effective conservation strategy, will also determine their population density. In the last some years, the increased number of deaths of rhinos due to natural causes has become a cause of concern for conservators.

Since 2017, 97 deaths have been reported, one among them was killed by poachers. To address this concern, the government has also formed a team of wildlife experts to study the deaths of one-horned rhinos in Chitwan National Park.