Trap pits, electrocution resurface as threats to Chitwan’s rhinos

Chitwan National Park has reported three rhino killings in four months. But the park administration is clueless about the poachers involved or the horns’ whereabouts.

On Thursday, two female rhinos were found dead in separate man-made pits near the Chaparchuli security post at Sauraha in Chitwan National Park. Park officials said the rhinos, aged six and 18, were killed by poachers who made off with the animals’ horns, which are prized for their medicinal properties. The pits where the pachyderms were discovered dead are at a distance of around 150-metre from each other, according to park officials.