DPA

A rare one-horned rhinoceros was killed by poachers in Nepal, local media reported yesterday.

The poaching in the Chitwan National Park, about 120km southwest of Kathmandu, was the first since Nepal celebrated a second consecutive zero
poaching year.

The 25-year-old male rhino was found with its horn severed, park officials and Nepal army told the Kathmandu Post. It had been shot in the head.

Last year, police arrested 14 poachers the park. Nepal is home to about 500 one-horned rhinos.

The worst phase in rhino conservation in Nepal was during the 1996-2006 civil war, when poachers exploited weak enforcement. In 2002 alone, 37
rhinos were killed.

The population of the endangered species dropped from 612 in 2002 to just over 370 by 2005.

Conservationists have been focusing attention on increasing the population of the rhinos ever since, mobilizing the army to combat poaching.

Rhino horns are prized in some Asian countries for allegedly aphrodisiac properties.