Challenges and opportunities of transboundary rhino conservation in India and Nepal

Currently, the wild population of the greater one-horned rhinoceros (Rhinoceros unicornis) is found in India and Nepal. To manage this transboundary population along the Indo-Nepal border, their habitats and numbers need scientific monitoring. Regular data should be collected on their movement patterns and management, and the data shared across borders with concerned conservation and management agencies to monitor the rhino population and the corridors they use, especially in Suklaphanta-Lagga Bagga, Pilibhit Forest Division, Dudhwa, Katerniaghat and Bardia landscape. Rhinos moving around the Indo-Nepal border in Katerniaghat-Bardia and Lagga Bagga-Suklaphanta should be fixed with radio collars to generate vital information that will assist conservation and management of the greater one-horned rhino along the border, strengthen transboundary planning and conservation for the rhino, besides orienting the police and border security forces in both countries to contribute towards protection of this rhino population moving between the countries.