Biology Reference
In-Depth Information
population dropped from around 550 to about 370, about the same level as when we finished
our census in 1987. For a while, all seemed lost.
And then, in 2005, Nepal began to right itself. The citizenry rallied, a peace movement
emerged, and the government negotiated a cease-fire with the Maoists.
When the smoke cleared, our survey teams returned to assess the damage in Bardia and
Suklaphanta. The Babai population of rhinos was gone, but all was not lost. The first group
of rhinos moved to the western border of Bardia along the Karnali River in 1986 had grown
from 13 to more than 30 animals. Several calves had been born in Suklaphanta, where the
rhino population had almost doubled from the 4 reintroduced there. Across the border in In-
dia, rhinos sent from Chitwan had helped start a founder population in Dudhwa National
Park that remained stable. A few colonists from Bardia had crossed into India's Katarniaghat
Wildlife Sanctuary and started another breeding group, and then some from Suklaphanta
had crossed into India, to the Kishanpur Wildlife Sanctuary. So while overall numbers were
down, the risk of extinction—and the promise of recovery—had been distributed among five
reserves.
There was no way to deny that the large number of rhinos poached in Chitwan and Bardia
represented a enormous loss. But when a few more were killed by poachers in 2006, the
people of Chitwan District took action. They gathered 100,000 signatures on a petition de-
manding that the government uphold its obligation to protect the rhinos. This remarkable dis-
play of popular conservation support is a rarity itself. It demonstrated that even in the poorest
regions on Earth local residents may recognize their unique heritage and have pride enough to
want to preserve it. There were also good economic reasons for doing so. By 2009, as much
as $400,000 per year was going to park border communities to build schools, health posts,
and roads. More rhinos meant more tourists, more tourists meant more revenue for local de-
velopment and protection, and that completed the circle for more rhinos.
Now protection has returned to the Terai reserves, and the rhinos are poised for yet another
comeback. The census in 2011 revealed a total of 534 individuals, a gain of more than 100
animals in three years. So even relatively slow-breeding giant mammals can be quite resili-
ent, capable of rebounding quickly, if we provide basic protection. But when protection fails,
or poachers run rampant, the gains can be wiped out overnight. The poaching epidemic cur-
rently raging in South Africa, home to 80 percent of the world's rhinos, tells us that rhino
poachers have become more organized, better financed, better armed, and more ruthless. In
2011, more than 450 rhinos were poached in South Africa; in 2012, the number might reach
600. The poachers are no longer poor villagers but now are operatives in international crime
rings.
My experience in the elephant grass taught me that in the absence of our species, these
giant mammals might be far from rare in the highly specialized habitat they prefer. That hab-
itat was once abundant, and the rhino beautifully adapted to it and the sweep of the monsoon
