Nepal brings back four rhinos swept away to India

Nepal has brought back four one-horned rhinoceros that were swept away across the Indian border and nearby settlements in the recent monsoon floods, officials said on Wednesday.

At least six endangered rhinos of Chitwan National Park (CNP), Nepal's largest habitat of rhinos, were swept away by the floods in Rapti river in mid-August, Xinhua news agency reports.

A special operation was launched by the CNP and local conservation partners to bring back the dislocated rhinos from the jungles and settlements across the Nepal-India border.

Right after the flood that killed around 120 people across the southern plains of Nepal, the officials had relocated a two-year-old baby rhino in dead state while another four have been rescued alive.

On Wednesday morning, the park officials released the fourth rhino into the park, which was rescued from the Valmiki Tiger Reserve of India.

"This is the fourth rhino that we have rescued alive from nearby area of Indian Reserve. It is a male calf of around two-year-old and is completely healthy. Now, we are putting efforts to rescue the fifth one," Chiranjivi Prasad Pokharel, chief of National Trust for Nature Conservation Chitwan, told Xinhua.

Out of four rescued rhinos, three were females while one was male.

Officials said a truck with a special wooden cage-like structure travelled around 150 km from the park to reach those settlements in neighboring India.

"It took at least four hours to bring back the rhinos after tranquilizing them through a dart," Pokharel added.

According to the national park officials, the rescued rhinos were in good physical state.

According to Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation, out of total 645 rhinos in Nepal, over 600 are in Chitwan National Park.

--IANS

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