Endangered rhinos vanish from game reserve

DOZENS of endangered great one-horned rhino-ceroses have gone missing from a nature reserve in south-west Nepal over the past few years, a wildlife official said yesterday.

Authorities introduced 72 rhinos, also known as Indian rhinos, in the Babai Valley, 320km south-west of Kathmandu, as part of a conservation drive that started in 1984.

“We have records showing 23 rhinos died due to poaching or other causes. The rest are missing,” Laxmi Prasad Manandhar, a senior official at the Department of National Park and Wildlife Conservation, said.