The government has formed a probe team to investigate the killings of one-horned rhinos in the national parks of Chitwan and Bardiya. Thirty-three protected rhinos have died in these two conservation parks during the last seven months; poachers killed 29. The Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation reported eight rhinos were killed in the last month alone.

Out of the 33 rhinos, 18 were adult males and five were females. The rest could not be verified. The poachers managed to steal the valuable horns from 16 of the killed animals. Informal sources place the value of one kilo of rhino horn, wrongly believed to have medicinal value, at Rs 800,000 locally and Rs 2.2 million on the international black market.

In the meantime, the Regional Environment Office for South Asia under the US Embassy has expressed concerns over the adverse negative impacts of insurgency on Nepal's conservation efforts. "Trafficking in animal contrabands have reached an alarming scale," said Michael Detar, director of the program. Detar said the ongoing insurgency is collapsing the rural economy and withering sources for conservation funds, which put tremendous pressure on Nepal's ecology.