Baby Rhino Swept Away By South Asian Floods Rescued
An endangered one horned rhino that had found itself caught up in the flooding and was swept across the Nepali border into India has been found and brought home. The rhino which is a young female was rescued around 42 kilometres in away from its home in the Chitwan National Park. The rhino ended up near the Indian village of Bagah and was very lucky to be found because there are four more rhinos that are still missing with one dead following the devastating flooding in the region.
Widespread damage
Intense monsoon rains have resulted in widespread damage across South Asia including Nepal, Bangladesh and some parts of Northern India over the last few weeks. In the Chitwan Valley of Nepal which serves as home to the National Park and its more than 600 rhinos, the effects of flooding have been bad. A couple of weeks ago, dozens of elephants and rafts were sent to rescue approximately 500 people who had become trapped in the area. A team of 40 Nepali officials were sent to rescue the two-and-a-half-year-old rhino and bring her home from India.
Indian forestry officials helped
The park’s Deputy Warden Nurendra Aryal said that they were successfully able to bring the baby rhino back with the assistance of Indian forestry officials and hundreds of people came out to watch. The rhino was found at a sugarcane farm near the Northern Indian village and was sedated with the help of a tranquilliser dart and was then brought back in a truck Mr Aryal said.
Rhinos still missing
There are still four rhinos missing though officials say that two are located inside a protected tiger conservation in India that borders the Chitwan district. Two others are also in sugarcane fields in the Nepali district Nawalparsai. Unfortunately, another baby rhino was found dead. According to Mr Aryal the remaining rhinos in India would be rescued when the flooding recedes. Every year the monsoon season takes place between June and September and causes floods across the region. In the Indian state of Assam six rhinos have drowned following flooding at the Kaziranga National Park.
