Nepal moved 76 greater one-horned rhinos to new protected areas over the past decade, a number that looks like a clear conservation win. But the grasslands and wetlands those rhinos now depend on are shrinking fast.
A decade of moving rhinos, one by one
Between 2016 and 2026, Nepal’s Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation translocated 76 rhinos from Chitwan National Park to two other protected areas: Bardia National Park and Shuklaphanta National Park. The goal was to spread the population and reduce the risk of a single disease outbreak or poaching event wiping out a large share of the country’s rhinos. Chitwan, in the southern lowlands of Nepal, holds the bulk of the nation’s estimated 752 rhinos. Moving animals to new habitat also helps restore populations in places where rhinos had disappeared decades ago.
The grasslands are disappearing under the rhinos’ feet
Local conservationists and park officials now say the translocation program has a hidden problem. The rhinos are arriving in parks where their preferred habitat, open grasslands and wetlands, is being overtaken by forests and invasive plant species. In Bardia and Shuklaphanta, natural succession and the spread of non-native plants have reduced the area of prime rhino feeding grounds. Rhinos need large areas of grassland to graze, and without active management, those spaces are shrinking. Park authorities have begun clearing invasive species and using controlled burns to restore grassland, but the work is slow and expensive.
Why local communities feel the pressure
People living near the parks also feel the effects. As rhino numbers grow in these new locations, more animals wander outside park boundaries in search of food. Crop damage and safety concerns have increased in villages around Bardia and Shuklaphanta. Farmers report rhinos trampling fields of rice and wheat, and some have called for better compensation or stronger barriers. Park officials acknowledge the tension and say they are working with local governments to improve fencing and response teams. But the root cause, a lack of quality habitat inside the parks, remains unresolved.
Nepal’s rhino translocation program is often held up as a model for other countries. The numbers are real: 76 animals moved, no deaths during transport, and new populations established. But those numbers do not tell the full story. Without sustained investment in habitat restoration and community relations, the success of moving rhinos could be undone by the slow loss of the places they need to live.
