The Department of Parks and Wildlife Conservation conducted a feasibility study for the relocation of blackbucks four years ago.
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The black rhinoceros in Hirapur Phata of Shuklaphanta National Park is to be relocated.
Based on the study conducted by the Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation for the past, the black rhinoceros is to be relocated from Hirapur of Shuklaphanta National Park to the forest of Tikauli area in the Baranda Bhar corridor of Chitwan.
The Department of Parks and Wildlife Conservation had conducted a feasibility study for the relocation of the black rhinoceros four years ago. For this, a study was conducted to relocate it to Panchakanya Community Forest in the Baranda Bhar Forest Conservation Area of Chitwan.
Since the decision to relocate the black rhinoceros was made at the ministerial level this week, the Deputy Director General of the Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation, Ved Kumar Dhakal, said that the relocation will now be made after making an action plan. ‘A decision has been made at the ministerial level, based on the studies conducted in the past, the work will now proceed to relocate,’ he said, ‘After completing all the necessary preparations, the relocation will be done at the appropriate time.’
18 blackbucks, 6 males and 12 females, will be relocated from Hirapur and Khairapur. ‘It has not been decided yet where and how many to take, it will be decided after studying everything,’ said Haribhadra Acharya, senior ecologist at the department, ‘Translocation of wildlife is an appropriate strategy for species conservation. When an epidemic or other disaster strikes in one place, a species may become extinct all at once, if it is protected elsewhere as well, it can be prevented from becoming extinct.’
He said that winter is more suitable for wildlife conservation than the summer season. "The outside temperature is also high now, and even when it is under control, the temperature suddenly increases," he said. "It is also very hot to travel long distances at this time, so the winter season is better." He said that the time when the heat is less will be considered for the relocation now.
An enclosure has been built on a 19.6-hectare area surrounded by a wire fence in the grassland on the banks of the Khajeri River in the Baranda Bhar Forest Reserve in Chitwan. The black rhinoceros brought from Hirapur in Shuklaphanta and Khairapur in Bardiya will be kept in the same area.
Work will begin immediately in the area, from grassland management to water source management and repairing the enclosure built in the past, said Bishnu Acharya, head of the Division Forest Office, Chitwan. According to Acharya, the work of relocating the black rhinoceros is being done with the financial support of Ratnanagar Municipality. He said that work is being done to relocate it by the end of April.
In 2070, 42 blackbucks were transferred from the zoos of Khairapur and Nepalgunj in Bardiya to Hirapur Phata in Shuklaphanta. The 58-hectare enclosure, which was built to house around 100 blackbucks, currently houses around 300 blackbucks.
Shuklaphanta National Park has been preparing an action plan for the management of blackbucks for a long time. There have been discussions from time to time about releasing them in their natural habitat or relocating them elsewhere. ‘Since the number is very good, the challenge in terms of management has increased,’ said Purushottam Wagle, the park’s conservation officer, ‘We had also prepared a management plan and proposed it to the department.’
