Poor gift

The Nepalese government has
'gifted' two one-horned baby rhinos to the Zoological Society of
London, UK, and has in the process,
violated the Convention on
International Trade in Endangered
Species (CITES) of which the country is a signatory. Altogether, 25
one-horned rhinos from Nepal
have been gifted to different countries so far.

The endangered species were
trapped from the Royal Chilwan
National Park in the southern
plains bordering India. This species
of rhinos is found only in Nepal and
India. Following the government's
action, conservationists are
demanding a transparent policy on
the practice of gifting rhinos. The
CITES regulates for a clear and
transparent policy for the transfer
of any endangered animal for scientific study and Nepal does not
have any policy in this regard.

Nepal began formal conservation and expansion of one-horned
rhino with merely 60 wild animals
some three decades ago and has so
far, spent more than US $30 billion
for wildlife conservation. At present, there are nearly 500 one-horned rhinos in this Himalayan
country.