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Nepal Reserve Prepares to Welcome Rhinos in Bid to Boost Biodiversity
The translocation is part of a larger effort to create viable populations of greater one-horned rhinos across Nepal, which has seen its rhino population grow from just 100 in 1966 to more than 750.
Sep 23, 2023
People living around Koshi Tappu Wildlife Reserve in eastern Nepal are preparing to welcome two very special guests on World Tourism Day, Sept. 27.
Pushpa and Anjali are greater one-horned rhinos (Rhinoceros unicornis) who are being moved here from Chitwan National Park in central Nepal. The translocation of the two female rhinos is aimed at boosting the tourism potential and biodiversity of the eastern Terai Arc region that runs across southern Nepal and northern India.
“We will be translocating two rhinos to Koshi Tappu Wildlife Reserve on the occasion of World Tourism Day,” Hari Bhadra Acharya, acting director-general at the Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation told Mongabay. Although Acharya said they were yet to decide which pair will be translocated, department sources told Mongabay that Pushpa and Anjali have been chosen for the purpose.
The rhinos were rescued as calves in 2019 and 2020 after being abandoned by their mothers, and cared for since then at a rehabilitation center outside Chitwan run by the National Trust for Nature Conservation, a semi-governmental body. They will be the first of their species to inhabit Koshi Tappu.
"The park, which has no rhinos at present, offers a suitable habitat and less human disturbance for the rhinos."
The pair had previously this year been released into the wild in Chitwan, to the dismay of local residents and conservationists. They said the animals, which are habituated to humans, pose a risk to themselves and to people, and urged officials to relocate them as soon as possible
A move to Koshi Tappu was one of the original options officials had considered prior to the rhinos’ release, along with possibly gifting them to foreign countries as a form of “rhino diplomacy,” much the same way China hands out pandas to other countries. Koshi Tappu, unlike Chitwan, doesn’t have any tigers, which would make the reserve a safer place for the young rhinos.
“The decision to translocate rhinos to Koshi Tappu National Park was made after considering their conservation value,” said Acharya. “The park, which has no rhinos at present, offers a suitable habitat and less human disturbance for the rhinos.”
According to Nepal’s 2021 rhino census, Chitwan National Park is home to 694 rhinos, Bardiya National Park in the west has 38, Shuklaphanta National Park, also in the west, has 17, and Parsa National Park, adjacent to Chitwan, has three.
The planned translocation Pushpa and Anjali, carried out with the support of the NTNC, is also a part of the government’s long-term plan to create multiple viable populations of the vulnerable species in Nepal. For their move, the rhinos will be sedated and transported by truck, according to Acharya.
As with its tigers, Nepal has been successful in conserving its rhinos, achieving zero poaching for several years running now and growing the population from a low of 100 in 1966 to 752 in 2021. Translocations have been part of the conservation strategy during this period, beginning with the first batch of 13 rhinos moved from Chitwan to Bardiya in 1986.
This translocation is just a start, with more rhinos set to be moved to Koshi Tappu based on how the translocated pair adapt.
"We hope that the [latest] translocation will not only enhance the conservation of the species, but also attract more tourists and visitors to Koshi Tappu,” Acharya said, noting that the wildlife reserve, which is also a Ramsar site — a key wetland — and an important bird habitat.Residents living near the reserve have awaited the arrival of rhinos there since 2017. That year, 15 wild water buffalo (Bubalus arnee) from Koshi Tappu were moved to Chitwan, with officials promising to bring over rhinos in return. However, the buffalo translocation wasn’t successful, with the animals all dying for various reasons shortly after their arrival in Chitwan.
Nepali conservationists have long pushed for the translocation of animals to take place at scale so that newly established populations survive in new habitats. Translocating two female rhinos to Koshi Tappu, where they won’t be able to breed to produce offspring, doesn’t serve a conservation purpose, they argue. However, Acharya said this translocation is just a start, with more rhinos set to be moved to Koshi Tappu based on how the translocated pair adapt.
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Justice Demanded After Qatari World Cup Official Admits Hundreds of Migrant Worker Deaths
"Until all abuses suffered by migrant workers in Qatar are remedied, the legacy of this World Cup will be severely tarnished by their mistreatment," said Amnesty International's head of economic and social justice.
Nov 29, 2022
An Amnesty International campaigner on Tuesday led calls for "truth, justice, and compensation" after Qatar's World Cup chief admitted that hundreds of migrant workers died during the construction of projects related to the FIFA tournament.
"Without full investigations the true scale of lives lost can never be known."
In an interview with British journalist Piers Morgan aired on TalkTV, Hassan Al-Thawadi, secretary general of the Qatar World Cup Supreme Committee, was asked how many migrant workers--who make up 90% of the nation's workforce--have died during the construction of $300 billion worth of tournament-related infrastructure including stadiums, hotels, highways, railways, and an expanded international airport.
"The estimate is around 400, between 400 and 500," Al-Thawadi replied. "I don't have the exact number, that's something that's been discussed. One death is too many, it's as simple as that."
\u201cQatar 22 chief Hassan Al Thawadi tells Piers Morgan an estimated 400-500 migrant workers died in Qatar as a result of wider infrastructure work connected to World Cup. \nOrganisers say on actual stadia sites 3 migrant workers died with 37 further fatalities due to non work reasons\u201d— Dan Roan (@Dan Roan) 1669714740
Responding to Al-Thawadi's remarks, Steve Cockburn, Amnesty International's head of economic and social justice, said that "the continued debate around the number of workers who have died in the preparation of the World Cup exposes the stark reality that so many bereaved families are still waiting for truth and justice."
"Over the last decade, thousands of workers have returned home in coffins, with no explanation given to their loved ones," he noted. An analysis by The Guardian found that more than 6,500 workers from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, and Sri Lanka died in Qatar since the repressive Gulf monarchy was awarded soccer's premier international tournament in late 2010. The Guardian's estimate, however, has been criticized for counting all foreign worker deaths in the country over the past decade.
"Qatar's extreme heat and grueling working conditions are likely to have contributed to hundreds of these deaths, but without full investigations, the true scale of lives lost can never be known," Cockburn continued. "Meanwhile, families are suffering the added anguish of severe financial insecurity that comes from losing the main wage earner."
\u201cWe get so lost in debating the numbers of how many workers have died in Qatar, we often forget that behind every figure is a person with a family who has lost both a loved one and any chance of financial security. They need truth and compensation.\n\n#PayUpFIFA #PayUpQatar\u201d— Steve Cockburn (@Steve Cockburn) 1669737770
"There is nothing natural about this scale of loss and there can be no excuse for denying families truth, justice, and compensation any longer," he added. "Until all abuses suffered by migrant workers in Qatar are remedied, the legacy of this World Cup will be severely tarnished by their mistreatment."
Al-Thawadi asserted that conditions are improving for migrant workers in Qatar, noting the implementation of a 1,000 riyal, or about $275, minimum monthly wage and increased attention to safety.
"I think every year the health and safety standards on the sites are improving, at least on our sites, the World Cup sites, the ones that we're responsible for, most definitely," he said.
A spokesperson for Qatar's Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy appeared to backpedal Al-Thawadi's remarks in a Tuesday statement reiterating the Qatari government's claim of just three work-related and 37 non-work-related migrant worker deaths during the World Cup construction period.
"Separate quotes regarding figures refer to national statistics covering the period of 2014-2020 for all work-related fatalities (414) nationwide in Qatar, covering all sectors and nationalities," the agency said.
Hari, a 27-year-old Nepalese builder who earned 700 riyals a month in a country where the average Qatari household makes more than 100 times more, described working conditions to CNN earlier this month:
It was too hot. The foreman was very demanding and used to complain a lot. The foreman used to threaten to reduce our salaries and overtime pay. I had to carry tiles on my shoulder to the top. It was very difficult going up through the scaffolding. In the pipeline work, there were 5-7 meters deep pits, we had to lay the stones and concrete, it was difficult due to the heat. It was difficult to breathe. We had to come upstairs using a ladder to drink water. At some places, they didn't have water. Some places, they didn't provide us water on time. At some places, we used to go to houses nearby asking for water.
It never happened to me, but I saw some workers fainting at work. I saw one Bengali, one Nepali... two to three people faint while working. They took the Bengali to medical services. I'm not sure what happened to him.
A 2019 study of 1,300 Nepali migrant worker deaths in Qatar published in Cardiology Journal found a "strong correlation" between toiling in extreme heat and dying from heart problems.
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India and Nepal's New 'Wildlife-Friendly' Infrastructure Rules Ignore Birds
"Important bird habitats should be avoided during the development of roads, dams, canals, and railway lines. But if doing so isn’t possible, mitigation measures should be adopted to minimize the impacts on biodiversity."
May 22, 2022
Nepal's government has recently adopted guidelines to make infrastructure such as roads, dams and railway lines wildlife-friendly, following pressure from conservationists and NGOs.
Ninety out of 100 infrastructure projects in Nepal don't take the potential impacts on birds into consideration.
But not all wildlife have been included, with birds, especially those living in dense forests, likely to still be negatively impacted despite the mitigation measures.
The guidelines, issued in April, classify wildlife that could be impacted by infrastructure into five categories Small (such as tortoise, snakes and other reptiles and amphibians); small mammals (squirrels, rabbits, porcupines and civets); medium-sized animals (wild cats, dholes, hyenas and monkeys); big animals (rhinos, tigers, bears, deer and buffalo); and mega animals (wild elephants).
"Linear infrastructure such as roads and power lines severely impact birds, especially those that live in dense forests," or forest specialist birds, said prominent Nepali ornithologist Hem Sagar Baral. "However, 90 out of 100 infrastructure projects in Nepal don't take the potential impacts on birds into consideration," he added.
"As tigers and rhinos get killed in collision with vehicular traffic, authorities tend to focus on these mega faunas when designing wildlife-friendly infrastructure," Baral said. "Birds, who also suffer, mainly due to the fragmentation of their habitat, get little attention."
Fragmentation of habitat is one of the key challenges facing forest birds in the region, according to a recent study conducted in the Mai Valley in eastern Nepal, designated by BirdLife International as an Important Bird and Biodiversity Area. The valley is home to birds such as the rufous-throated wren-babbler (Spelaeornis caudatus), the spiny babbler (Acanthoptila nipalensis), and the hoary-throated barwing (Sibia nipalensis).
Under the study, lead author Aastha Joshi and her team, including Baral, compared the diversity of birds found in two forests in the Mai Valley: one contiguous (Hangetham Community Forest) and the other isolated (Maipokhari Religious Forest).
"We chose the Maipokhari forest habitat as a test case for isolated forests as the development of infrastructure around it caused the religious forest to be fragmented eventually and be surrounded by agriculture land," Joshi said.
The Hangetham Community Forest, by contrast, developed as a contiguous forest within the Panchthar-Ilam corridor of Nepal, connecting forests of two different districts, thanks to the active participation of the community in its conservation.
Climatic conditions were assumed to be identical for both forests, which are just 20 kilometers (12 miles) apart, Joshi said.
The researchers recorded bird sightings in the two forests from December 2019 to January 2020, and then again in March 2020 and March 2021 (curtailed due to COVID-19 restrictions). They found that the contiguous forest supported a significantly higher bird diversity than the isolated forest.
Measures such as building overpasses and underpasses and culverts don't necessarily help mitigate the impacts of roads on birds.
"As the continuous forest is surrounded by forests, it offers a wide range of micro-habitats, food sources, and nesting sites away from predators and competitors," Baral said. When the forest habitat is fragmented, the specific requirements of these birds can't be met, he added. That's why measures such as building overpasses and underpasses and culverts don't necessarily help mitigate the impacts of roads on birds, he said.
The team recorded a total of 1,138 individual birds belonging to 141 species throughout the entire study. The overall result showed a higher number of species in the contiguous forest (116) compared to the isolated forest (84).
"It has been well documented both in the [Indian] subcontinent and outside that the larger contiguous patches of forests support more bird diversity than isolated patches," said Indian ornithologist Rohit Jha, who has studied birds in both India and Nepal but was not involved in the recent survey. "The studies, including the recent one in eastern Nepal, add to our existing knowledge that only a subset of species found in larger forests is found in small patches," he added.
In the case of a forest spanning 600 square kilometers (230 square miles), Jha hypothesized, some bird species will only live within the innermost 200 km2 (77 mi2), "as they have developed and evolved to live in core forests away from human disturbance and edges of forests." These, Jha told Mongabay, are the forest birds that are most threatened in the subcontinent due to the fragmentation of habitat, he added.
Various studies have shown that forest patches in the Indian subcontinent are increasingly being fragmented due to various reasons, such as the development of roads, power lines and railways. A 2020 study found an increase in the number of forest patches and a reduction in the number of large patches (defined as covering more than 10,000 km2, or 3,900 mi2) due to linear infrastructure in India. High-tension power lines and major roads were the most common linear intrusions within forests, and 70% of the assessed protected areas had some amount of linear infrastructure passing through them.
In the case of Nepal, a 2018 study looking at forest cover in the country from 1930-2014 found a 75.5% reduction in dense forests, and an increase in the number of fragmented patches. A 2021 study looking at forest loss and fragmentation between 1930 and 2020 in the Asian elephant's range in Nepal's Terai plains found the area of the large forests had shrunk by 43% during that period, whereas smaller patches had increased several time over.
"As both Nepal and India are developing countries, there is a growing need for essential infrastructures such as roads and powerlines," Jha said. This means fragmentation will only increase in the foreseeable future, ramping up the threats to forest specialist birds.
Developers and policymakers in the region need to identify key contiguous forest patches and prepare plans to keep them intact.
Baral and Jha both agreed that important bird habitats should be avoided during the development of roads, dams, canals and railway lines. But if doing so isn't possible, mitigation measures should be adopted to minimize the impacts on biodiversity, including different bird species. They also called for wildlife-friendly infrastructure guidelines, such as the one issued by Nepal recently, to include birds.
Jha said that as part of the mitigation measures, developers and policymakers in the region need to identify key contiguous forest patches and prepare plans to keep them intact. "It is also necessary to ensure not just connectivity, but also functional connectivity, between forests, and not allow fragmentation, to save the specialist forest bird species," he told Mongabay. "The mitigation measures need to be designed to ensure that threats to birds are also accounted for from the starting phase of development projects."
This then needs to be followed up with effective monitoring, which is lacking in the Indian subcontinent, Baral said.
"When a development project is completed," he said, "we need to keep on effectively monitoring its impacts on biodiversity."
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