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

14
THE STATUS AND DISTRIBUTION OF THE GREATER ONE HORNED RHINO IN NEPAL
The booklet was put together to form a convenient way of recording all of the details about a GOH
rhino. It was also small enough to conveniently fi t into a shirt pocket.
The observers were trained to look for and draw/note any features such as horn shape, ear
tears, skin folds, deformiti es, epidermal knobs, body scars or tail shape that would make a rhino
disti nguishable. They were trained to correctly fi ll in the following informati on:
• Date and ti me
• GPS locati on
• Standardised age class (adult, sub-adult or calf)
• Sex (male, female or unidenti fi ed sex)
• Habitat type (tall grassland, short grassland, Sal forest, riverine forest, wetland, other)
• Disti nct rhino identi fi cati on features (ears and horn, body and tail features)
• Body conditi on (good, average, poor)
• Group compositi on
• Acti vity
Trainees were trained to record the informati on fully and accurately. The emphasis was on
accuracy and they were taught to put a “?” if they were unsure. The observers fi lled in the forms
from the centre of the booklet and the completed form was then removed and stored in a waterproof
plasti c folder.
3.3.3. Invasive alien plant species data recording
Mikania micrantha is a fast growing perennial creeper belonging to the family Asteraceae. It is
commonly called “mile-a-minute weed” because of its excepti onally fast growth rate and spreading
nature. The nati ve range of M. micrantha lies in the tropical and sub-tropical zones of Central and
South America. Although it is only of minor importance as a weed in its nati ve habitats, once it is
transported outside, M. micrantha is capable of rapidly producing a huge amount of biomass and
even smothering large trees, causing signifi cant losses in natural forests, grasslands, plantati ons
and agricultural systems. M. micrantha is now a major weed in many countries within the moist
tropical zones of South and South-east Asia and the Pacifi c, and is expanding its range. In Nepal, it
is aggressively spreading from east to west and has reached Chitwan NP and beyond in less than
half a decade probably from northern India where it was reported to be introduced during WW II
(1940’s) for use as a camoufl age creeper for securing military installati ons (Poudel et al. 2005). It is
the principal invasive plant in Chitwan NP and is now fairly widespread in areas closer to the river
and in places very abundant. This is a major concern as rhino and other herbivores are known not
to eat M. micrantha. It has the potenti al to destroy prime habitats of threatened species including
rhino (Figure 16).