For the first time since February 2013, a rhino was gunned down by wildlife traffickers in Nepal.
The killing occurred on May 2, in the buffer zone area which surrounds Chitwan National Park. Nepali news portal eKantipur reported that the 25-year-old male rhino was killed by a .303 bullet and his horn removed. This tragedy struck just one week after the departure of Nandabaks Battalion Chief Chakra Bahadur Shah, who oversaw Nepal’s remarkable “Zero Poaching Year” — 365 days without the killing of a single rhino, tiger, or elephant.
A team comprised of park officials, personnel from the National Army and Central Investigation Bureau of Nepal Police was immediately deployed to track down the killers.
In 2013, Nepal requested an INTERPOL Red Notice for Rajkumar Praja, wanted for killing rhinos and international rhino horn trading. He was convicted in absentia and sentenced to 15 years in prison, after Nepalese authorities dismantled a rhino horn trafficking network.
Prior to this, the last reported killing of a rhino in Nepal was February 16, 2013.
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Rhishja Cota
I am the founder of Annamiticus and I have been researching and writing about wildlife trafficking issues since 2009. I also founded World Pangolin Day in 2012. I am the author of USAID Wildlife Asia's Pangolin Species Identification Guide: A Rapid Assessment Tool for Field and Desk. I co-facilitated and was a presenter at the USAID Wildlife Asia Pangolin Care Workshop. At the 4th Regional Dialogue on Combating Trafficking of Wild Fauna and Flora, I facilitated the species roundtables on pangolins. I have trekked with forest rangers in Cambodia, journeyed to the streets of Hanoi to research the illegal wildlife trade, and to the rainforests of Sumatra and Java to document the world’s rarest rhinos. At CITES meetings, I collaborate with colleagues from around the world to lobby in favor of protecting endangered species. I hosted the Behind the Schemes podcast and am the author of the book Murder, Myths & Medicine. I enjoy music, desert gardening, herping, reading, creating, and walking with my dogs. Check out my t-shirts and stickers at snoots + teefers.