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

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20 THE STATUS AND DISTRIBUTION OF THE GREATER ONE HORNED RHINO IN NEPAL A tractor was rented locally to move camping gear (tents, matt resses, petromax, generator for power supply), food items for census crew, fuel-wood, iron chains for tying up the elephants during night, elephant food rati on (rice, raw sugar and salt) and drinking water in areas where clean water was not accessible. The logisti cs team also contained a food supply and transportati on team. Each member of the census team was provided with breakfast, packed food whilst on the count and dinner in the evening. Up to six vehicles (NTNC and DNPWC) were used to transport observers from the camp to the start-up point each day, and for procurement of food items (Figure 26). Figure 24: A numbered rucksack for carrying monitoring and data recording equipment Figure 26: Tents and food being supplied to survey camp - Chitwan Nati onal Park Figure 27: Setti ng up camp - Bardia Nati onal Park
4. Results 4.1. Bardia National Park 4.1.1. Coverage and search effort THE STATUS AND DISTRIBUTION OF THE GREATER ONE HORNED RHINO IN NEPAL A total of 85.85 square kms of potenti al rhino habitats were surveyed in the Karnali fl oodplain (Figure 28). Over the period of fi ve days, a total of 293 elephant hours were spent (Table 1) searching for rhinos (3.41 elephant hours per square km). In Babai valley, a rapid search/assessment was undertaken over two days spending a total of 52 elephant hours. In May 2007, an intensive status monitoring conducted by DNPWC, NTNC and ZSL in the Babai valley reported the absence of rhinos in the area. Figure 28: Survey tracks - Bardia Nati onal Park All possible rhino habitats were searched (Table 1). In additi on to blocks 1-5, the dry Sal forests stretching between Karnali fl oodplain and Babai River (including Chitkaiya, Gobrella, Baghaura, Khodautal, Lamkauli - up to the highway, Lalmati , Khairbhatti , Amreni, Karmala and Sainawar areas) were surveyed for rhino and their signs (foot-print and dung). No rhino or their signs were found in the dry Sal forests. All water holes (Khodautal, Lamkaulital, Hatti ktal, Jarayotal, Dhaneshtal) were also visited and checked for fresh rhino signs. Based on fi eld informati on, the Chhati wan community forest in the Kailali District and buff er zone community forests in Gola and Patabhar were also searched. The Chhati wan community forest (45 square kms) stretches along the western branch of Karnali River and is connected with Geruwa fl oodplain. 21
Page 1 and 2: THE STATUS AND DISTRIBUTION OF THE
Page 3: THE STATUS AND DISTRIBUTION OF THE
Page 6 and 7: Appendices Appendix I : Bardia Nati
Page 9: Foreword The Greater One-horned Rhi
Page 13 and 14: Glossary Biological Management : In
Page 15: Abbreviations & Acronyms AsRSG Asia
Page 18 and 19: In Bardia, 21 animals were recorded
Page 21 and 22: 1. Introduction 1.1. Background THE
Page 25 and 26: 2.2. Bardia National Park THE STATU
Page 27 and 28: 3. Methodology THE STATUS AND DISTR
Page 29 and 30: 3.2. Survey block design All potent
Page 31 and 32: Figure 10: Elephant alignment at st
Page 35 and 36: Figure 16: Mikania micrantha infest
Page 39: THE STATUS AND DISTRIBUTION OF THE
Page 43 and 44: Table 2: ID rhino sighti ngs - Bard
Page 47 and 48: Table 8: Search eff ort - Chitwan N
Page 69 and 70: Appendix II : Chitwan National Park

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

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