The government on Monday celebrated 365 days of zero rhino poaching in a mark of a year that saw no hunting of the endangered animal in all the major protected areas of the country.
The government on Monday celebrated 365 days of zero rhino poaching in a mark of a year that saw no hunting of the endangered animal in all the major protected areas of the country.
Between February 16, 2013 and February 16, 2014, none of the national parks and protected areas—Chitwan National Park, Bardiya National Park and Shuklaphanta Wildlife Reserve—witnessed deaths of rhinos at the hand of poachers. Authorities, non-government organisation officials, communities, security forces and development partners marked the day amid a programme on the occasion of the first Wildlife Conservation Day on Monday.
The 16th Conference of Parties under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora held last year in Bangkok, Thailand, had decided to celebrate March 3 as World Wildlife Day.
At the programme, representatives of the stakeholders were felicitated for their role in combating wildlife crimes. Nepal had celebrated 2011 as the zero poaching year as not a single rhino or tiger was poached. According to the Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conserva-tion, during the last 365 days, around 700 people involved in illegal poaching of wildlife were arrested. Stringent monitoring and patrolling, use of unmanned Arial Vehicle and trained sniffer dogs were attributed to the success.
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