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

26
THE STATUS AND DISTRIBUTION OF THE GREATER ONE HORNED RHINO IN NEPAL
A large proporti on of the rhinos (66%) were recorded in the riverine forests (Table 7).
Table 7: Rhino distributi on by habitat type - Bardia Nati onal Park
Habitat Type
1 2
Blocks
3 4 5
Total
Riverine forest
Sal forest
3 5 5 1 14
Tall grassland 2 2
Wetland 2 1 3
Riverbed 2 2
Total 5 7 6 1 2 21
4.2. Chitwan National Park
4.2.1. Coverage and search effort
A total area of 470.2 square km of potenti al rhino habitats both inside the nati onal park and in
the surrounding buff er zone were surveyed (Figure 30). It took 3107.5 elephant hours (Table 8) to
complete the census (6.6 elephant hours per square km). Movement of elephants in the central
part of the southern stretch of Barandabhar forest was diffi cult due to ground conditi on, mainly
in Bish Hajari Lake and its surrounding area. However, a thorough search of trails leading to the
swampy areas and used by rhinos and other animals was made. No fresh spoors of rhinos going
into the area or coming out were evident indicati ng absence of rhinos in that area during the
count.
Figure 30 : Survey tracks - Chitwan Nati onal Park