Govt working to gift two rhino pairs to China

Chitwan / Apr 20: Chitwan National Park has begun the process to catch two pairs of rhinos to gift them to the northern neighbor China, informed Information Officer and Assistant Conservation Officer Noorendra Aryal of the park.

“We have begun the process to identify which rhinos to select. The selected rhinos would be captured possibly from the Amaltari area on the western side of the park,” he said, adding that they would keep the captured rhinos in the park for another two months.

In June 2016, the government had decided to gift China two pairs of endangered one-horned rhinos.

Although the national park has not fixed the date and time for capturing the pachyderms, Aryal said it would most likely be done within the next 10 days. “We will wait for the most appropriate time to capture the rhinos,” said Aryal.

According to the park, the rhinos to be gifted would be between one year or one year and half old. In the first phase, the park plans to send just one rhino pair to China in July.

One pair of rhinos would be kept at Chimelong Safari Park at Guangzhou. The second pair would be kept at Shanghai Wild Animal Park. Chimelong’s Assistant Manager Dr Yang has already arrived in Chitwan to plan the process to take the rhinos to China, according to park officials. Courtesy : Myrepublica