Kathmandu, February 6
The third Asian Rhino Range Countries Meeting–including wildlife conservation officials from Nepal, India, Bhutan, Malaysia and Indonesia–has concluded in Chitwan, issuing a 30-point declaration highlighting steps to be taken for the conservation of the protected animal.
The meeting that began on Friday near Chitwan National Park, the biggest natural habitat of the one-horned rhinoceros in Nepal concluded on Sunday.
Maheshwar Dhakal, the chief of Nepal’s Department of National Parks and Wildlife Cooperation, says the declaration includes eight points on protection, seven points on population management, four points on habitat management, seven points on research, monitoring and information sharing and four points on cooperation and coordination.
“The five Asian rhino range countries hereby commit to managing the populations of the greater one-horned, Javan and Sumatran rhinos with the intention of achieving at least 3 per cent annual growth rate in their populations …,” reads the declaration.
