Royal Chitwan National Park was created in 1973, but the area has been protected since at least the 19th century as a hunting reserve for Nepali and foreign aristocrats. King George V and his son, the young Edward VIII, managed to slaughter a staggering 39 tigers and 18 rhinos during just one blood-soaked safari to Chitwan in 1911.
Despite all the toffs firing buckshot into the jungle, Chitwan's status as a hunting reserve probably protected more animals than it killed. The biggest threat to wildlife in lowland Nepal has always been habitat loss, and the forest and malarial swamps were preserved to provide cover for game, keeping human encroachment to a minimum.
Until the late 1950s, the only inhabitants of the Chitwan Valley were small communities of Tharu villagers, who were blessed with a natural resistance to malaria. After a massive malaria eradication programme in 1954, land-hungry peasants from the hills swarmed into the region and huge tracts of the forest were cleared to make space for farmland.
As their habitat disappeared, so did the tigers and rhinos. By the mid 1960s, there were fewer than 100 rhinos and 20 tigers. News of the dramatic decline reached the ears of King Mahendra and the area was declared a royal reserve, becoming a national park in 1973. Some 22, 000 peasants were removed from within the park boundaries, but it was only when army patrols were introduced to stop poaching that animal numbers really started to rebound. Chitwan was added to the Unesco World Heritage list in 1984.
At the time of the 2000 census, wildlife populations were looking quite respectable, with 544 rhinos and an estimated 80 tigers, plus 50 other species of mammals and 450 species of birds. Sadly, a lot of that ground has been lost since the start of the Maoist rebellion. Poachers have reduced rhino and tiger numbers by a quarter, selling the animals parts on to middlemen in China and Tibet. One single consignment seized near the Nepal-Tibet border in 2003 contained the pelts of 32 tigers and 579 leopards.
The situation hasn't been helped by the falling visitor numbers, which have put a massive dent in the livelihoods of Tharu villagers around the park fringes. To make things worse, many resorts were damaged by monsoon floods in 2002, particularly around Sauraha. A swift resolution to Nepal's civil war is essential if Chitwan's endangered animals are to have any chance of survival.
Despite all the toffs firing buckshot into the jungle, Chitwan's status as a hunting reserve probably protected more animals than it killed. The biggest threat to wildlife in lowland Nepal has always been habitat loss, and the forest and malarial swamps were preserved to provide cover for game, keeping human encroachment to a minimum.
Until the late 1950s, the only inhabitants of the Chitwan Valley were small communities of Tharu villagers, who were blessed with a natural resistance to malaria. After a massive malaria eradication programme in 1954, land-hungry peasants from the hills swarmed into the region and huge tracts of the forest were cleared to make space for farmland.
As their habitat disappeared, so did the tigers and rhinos. By the mid 1960s, there were fewer than 100 rhinos and 20 tigers. News of the dramatic decline reached the ears of King Mahendra and the area was declared a royal reserve, becoming a national park in 1973. Some 22, 000 peasants were removed from within the park boundaries, but it was only when army patrols were introduced to stop poaching that animal numbers really started to rebound. Chitwan was added to the Unesco World Heritage list in 1984.
At the time of the 2000 census, wildlife populations were looking quite respectable, with 544 rhinos and an estimated 80 tigers, plus 50 other species of mammals and 450 species of birds. Sadly, a lot of that ground has been lost since the start of the Maoist rebellion. Poachers have reduced rhino and tiger numbers by a quarter, selling the animals parts on to middlemen in China and Tibet. One single consignment seized near the Nepal-Tibet border in 2003 contained the pelts of 32 tigers and 579 leopards.
The situation hasn't been helped by the falling visitor numbers, which have put a massive dent in the livelihoods of Tharu villagers around the park fringes. To make things worse, many resorts were damaged by monsoon floods in 2002, particularly around Sauraha. A swift resolution to Nepal's civil war is essential if Chitwan's endangered animals are to have any chance of survival.
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