The Case Of The Missing Rhinos
Authorities in Nepal report that a number of endangered Greater One-Horned Rhinoceros have gone missing from a nature preserve in Southwestern Nepal in recent years. The 72 rhinos had been relocated to the park starting in 1984 as a conservation measure. How many have gone missing?
Authorities introduced 72 rhinos, also known as the Indian rhinoceros, in the Babai Valley, 320 km (200 miles) southwest of Kathmandu, as part of a conservation drive that started in 1984.
"We have records showing 23 rhinos had died due to poaching or other causes. The rest are missing," Laxmi Prasad Manandhar, a senior official at the Department of National Park and Wildlife Conservation, said.
But he ruled out the possibility of all the 49 missing rhinos falling prey to poachers.
"If poachers had killed them they should have left behind the bodies" after taking away the horn, he said, adding that just one rhino skeleton had been found during an extensive search in June.
"Where did they go? I have no answer. It is a mystery," Manandhar said.
The rhinos were moved to Babai Valley from Chitwan National Park on Nepal's southern plains under a conservation scheme supported by global conservation group WWF.
Our operatives were able to get in to see an official in the Nepalese Supreme Bureau of Incompetent Management who informed us that the rhinos were not, in fact, missing. Rather, they were all on vacation at the beach. He said that Greater One-Horned Rhinoceros were well known as avid surfers. He was happy to furnish a picture as proof but refused to give his name.
(Here's an interesting site where you can download pattern sheets and build a paper sculpture of one of these endangered rhinos as well as other animals. Or motorcycles.)
