The challenge
Poachers killing greater one-horned rhinos for their horns threatened Nepal’s small population.
The case
Nepal’s Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation runs rhino protection in Chitwan, Bardia and Shuklaphanta national parks with the Nepal Army, which patrols round the clock, police investigators and community anti-poaching groups. The country declared several zero-poaching years, starting in 2011 and in the year to February 2014. After a rhino was killed in Chitwan on 2 May 2014, the park went more than 1,000 days without another poaching death, by January 2017. National counts rose from 534 rhinos in 2011 to 645 in 2015 and 752 in 2021. Poaching has not ended: six of the 161 rhino deaths between the 2015 and 2021 counts were from poaching.
Why it worked
Steady enforcement backed by the army, strong intelligence work and local support turned poaching from a constant drain into a rare event, letting the population grow.
Sources
- National Trust for Nature Conservation (2021). 752 one-horned rhinos in Nepal determined by National Rhino Count 2021.
- Kathmandu Post (2017). CNP marks 1,000 days of zero rhino poaching.
- WWF. Nepal’s rhino population rises 16%.
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