While Nepal’s efforts to revive its rhinoceros population is hailed as a conservation success, habitat degradation is forcing translocated rhinos to wander far beyond their designated release zones, according to a new study, reports contributor Bibek Bhandari for Mongabay. The population of the vulnerable greater one-horned rhinoceros (Rhinoceros unicornis) in Nepal grew by 16.6% between 2015 and 2021, reaching a total of 752 individuals. To expand the range of rhinos, authorities also established new rhino populations in Bardiya and Shuklaphanta national parks. Bardiya, which had no surviving rhinos until the early 1980s, now has about 38 rhinos, according to the last census in 2021. To see how the reintroduced rhinos use habitat in Bardiya, researchers attached GPS collars on five rhinos moved from Chitwan National Park to Bardiya in 2016-17. Their tracking showed that the rhinos maintain unusually large home ranges in the park’s Babai Valley. The study authors said that the behavior is likely due to fragmented riverine forests, limited grassland and seasonal water scarcity. Study co-author Babu Ram Lamichhane, currently associated with the nonprofit Wild Care Nepal, said that massive floods in 2015 and 2017 inundated the Babai Valley, reducing the grassland patches and wallowing sites rhinos require for thermoregulation and skin maintenance. Lamichhane said during the dry season, a lack of water in the Babai River forces rhinos to travel long distances, sometimes even crossing into India. “The rhino habitat is not at an optimal level in Babai Valley,” Lamichhane said. As rhinos seek resources outside the…This article was originally published on Mongabay

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