The Chitwan National Park (CNP), the country’s first protected area, has added another feather to its cap as it witnesses 1,000 days of zero-poaching of endangered one-horned rhinoceros on Friday.  

The country’s first protected area for the conservation of endangered wildlife species, including rhinos and tigers, reported no rhino deaths at the hand of poachers since May 2, 2014, according to Ram Chandra Kandel, the park’s chief conservation officer. Chitwan is home to 600 rhinos.

“This was possible due to the joint effort of the park, security forces, community and conservation partners working tirelessly to combat the illegal wildlife poaching,” said Kandel. The park has celebrated 4th year of zero poaching since 2011.

However, contrary to the park authorities’ claim, a young rhino believed to have travelled from Chitwan was found critically injured with gunshots in August last year in Rautahat district. “This incident happened outside the CNP premises where the authorities from the particular district are responsible,” Kandel lamented. “As the animal’s horn was intact, we cannot be sure if it was poaching or retaliatory act from the locals.”

The CNP has also recorded high rate of natural deaths. Fourteen rhinos were reported to have died in the fiscal year 2015-2016 inside the park. Only one of the 14 rhinos reported dead was due to old age. As per the 2015 data, Nepal now boasts 645 rhinos–the highest number recorded to date–distributed across four protected areas in the Terai Arc Landscape namely CNP, Bardia National Park, Shuklaphanta National Park and Parsa Wildlife Reserve. Nepal lost 37 rhinos to poaching in a single year in 2002.