the status and distribution of the greater one-horned rhino in nepal

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THE STATUS AND DISTRIBUTION OF THE GREATER ONE HORNED RHINO IN NEPAL
2.3. Shuklaphanta Wildlife Reserve
Shuklaphanta Wildlife Reserve (28 o 45’16’’ and 28 o 7’23’’ North and 80 o 06’04’’ and 80 o 21’40’’ East) is
located in Kanchanpur district in the far-western lowland Terai of Nepal. The reserve was managed
as a hunti ng reserve from 1969, and was gazett ed as a Wildlife Reserve in 1976, covering an area of
305 km 2 . The reserve shares a common boundary with the Indian state of Utt ar Pradesh in the south
and west which is formed by the Mahakali (Sarda) river, a major tributary of the Ganges. The reserve
extends up to the Syali River in the east and to the Siwaliks ridge in the north-east corner.
The area has a sub-tropical monsoonal type with three disti nct seasons: winter, hot, monsoon. The
mean monthly minimum temperature varies from 10 to 12 o C in winter and rises gradually to 17 o C in
the spring and 26 o C in the summer. The maximum temperature varies from 22 o C to 36 o C, reaching
as high as 42 o C in the pre-monsoon period. This part of the country receives less rain than eastern
Nepal with average annual rainfall ranging from 1,300 mm to 2,300 mm, 80% of which falls during
the monsoon (July to September).
Although the area of the reserve is small, it supports a wide range of biodiversity which is nati onally
and globally important. The main vegetati on types are: sal forest; sal savanna, which is part
of a conti nuum between climax forest and grassland that is maintained by fi re or fl oods; mixed
deciduous forest, which is patchily distributed among the more extensive grasslands in the southwest;
grasslands, both dry (locally known as phantas) and wet in the case of areas inundated during
the monsoon; lowland savanna, which occurs on the fringes of all main grasslands; khair-sissoo
forest, dominated by Acacia catechu and Dalbergia sissoo and forming an early succession in riverine
areas; and marsh, in which tall dense grasses are predominant (e.g. Phragmites karka, Saccharum
spontaneum and Sclerostachya fusca).
Twenty four mammal species, three hundred and fi ft y species of birds and fourteen species of fi sh
have been recorded in the reserve. The reserve supports the largest populati on of Bengal fl orican
(Houbaropsis bengalensis) and swamp deer (Cervus duvauceli). The rhino populati on was started in
2003 with the translocati on of 4 animals from Chitwan Nati onal Park to add to the one resident rhino
which was fi rst sighted and reported in 1995.