The government will gift a pair of one-horned rhinos to China within a couple of week as per the agreement between the two sides.

Deputy Director General of the Department of National Park and Wildlife Conservation (DNPWC) Gopal Prasad Bhattarai said the government planned to send the rhinos on July 12. “We are working to send a pair of rhinos within this fiscal year and have also slated July 12 for now,” said Bhattarai.

The process of sending one-horned rhinos picked up pace after a high-level team from China recently visited Nepal. An eight-member team constituting six top officials from the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) of Wild Fauna and Flora China chapter and park officials had arrived here last week. The team led by Director General of CITES China also includes officials from Chimelong Safari Park and Shanghai Zoo which will host the rhinos, according to DNPWC Director General Man Bahadur Khadka.

The visiting team, which was joined by a veterinarian team last Thursday, visited the Chitwan National Park (CNP) to inspect the condition of the two rhinos after being captured for gift purpose. “They have to make sure the new species entering their country are free of diseases,” Bhattarai added. These rhinos, captured in late April, have been kept under observation in an enclosure.

The government had initially planned to send at least a pair of rhinos to China before Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli’s visit there. But the plan was cancelled due to technical reasons.

The plan of gifting rhinos to the neighbouring China—the understanding reached between two sides during then minister for forest Agni Sapkota’s visit to Beijing in 2016, was revived after the high-level visit. In July that year, the government had decided to gift two pairs of rhinos to China.  

According to DG Khadka, the rhinos will be transported to China on a chartered flight. The CNP is making four special boxes for the purpose. Another pair of rhinos will

be sent to China in the next fiscal year.