CHITWAN, Dec 31

The national forest area in the district reported the deaths of 31 wildlife in the past five and half months. According to the Division Forest Office, Chitwan, the wildlife fatalities include rhinoceros, leopard and animals of deer family.

Office information officer Balkrishna Khanal said a rhino was electrocuted at Bharatpur metropolis-16. Investigation about the case is going on. A carcass of Cheetah was found stuck in a tree at the forest of Thimura.

Similarly, 22 deer, five wild boars, and two barking deer were killed in the period. Most of wildlife fatalities except rhino and leopard, were due to hitting from the motor vehicles at Barandabhar forest area, Ramnagar and Muglin areas.

As Khanal said, 70 per cent animals were killed after being struck by vehicles. Only two vehicles were punished for it while other vehicles involved in the hit have not been identified yet.

Last year, 35 animals including one Royal Bengal tiger had died in the district.

Khanal believes that the death toll will go down if drivers show a little concern for the wild animals' safety while driving.

The construction of a separate track for animals at Tikauli along the East West Highway has been an issue of public discourse as the area reports the frequent cases of raod kill.

63 animals die in CNP in last five and half months

Meanwhile, 63 wild animals have died in Chitwan National Park (CNP) so far since mid-July. The highest numbers of rhinoceros and spotted deer have died. According to the CNP data, 10 male rhinos, seven female rhinos and two whose sex could not be ascertained were found dead during the period.

The CNP stated that five rhinos died of ageing, five after getting stuck in marsh, two by drowning, two by fighting and one due to attack by tiger. The park authorities suspect that one rhino found dead at Ghangar area of Madi on July 27 and another one found dead at Dhowa area on September 27 might have been killed by poachers.

Similarly, 19 spotted deer have died during the period. CNP Information Officer Ganesh Prasad Tiwari said 15 of the dead spotted deer are female and four male. Most have died due to bite of wild dogs.

Likewise, a male and a female tiger have died. The male tiger died while under treatment while the female died due to illness. A male and a female bear have died due to natural causes. During the same period six male and four female wild buffaloes have died.

One male and a female barking deer, a male and a female hog deer, two female and a male sambar deer one female crocodile and three other animals also died inside the CNP in this period, Tiwari said.