Poachers kill rare one-horned rhino in southern Nepal forest

KATHMANDU, Nepal – Authorities are searching for poachers who killed a rare one-horned rhinoceros over the weekend in the forests of southern Nepal and cut off the horn, officials said Sunday.

Forest officer Nurendra Aryal said it was the first killing of a rhino in the Chitwan National Forest in nearly three years. Soldiers and forest rangers were scouring the forests and nearby areas for the people who shot the rhino.

The dead animal was discovered on Saturday.

Aryal said it was a stormy night, so forest officers did not hear a gunshot or spot the poachers enter the area.

The forest located about 160 kilometres (100 miles) south of Nepal’s capital, Kathmandu, and bordering India is protected by the government and guarded by armed soldiers.

Nepal has been working to increase the number of one-horned rhinos in Chitwan National Forest, where the population has reached 605.