Rhino diplomacy: What are Nepali rhinos doing in China?

In July 2018, Nepal gifted two pairs of endangered greater one-horned baby rhinos to China as part of rhino diplomacy. The first pair was Bhadra (male) and Rupasi (female), who boarded a chartered flight to the Chinese city Guangzhou as symbolic ambassadors of Sino-Nepal friendship.

Right before their flight, I had followed all the preparatory activities and rhinos’ road journey in a truck from Chitwan National Park to Kathmandu. After exactly five years, this June, when I traveled to Guangzhou, I couldn’t stop myself from saying hello to the exquisite and rare pair living in a special zone of Chimelong Safari Park.

As Harisharan Pudasaini, Consul General at Nepali Consulate Office in Guangzhou, said, the baby rhinos have not just found a new home in Guangzhou, but also have helped strengthen the friendship between the two countries. “Nepali rhinos are in good hands, growing in a safe and healthy environment. Every time I visit the park, I feel like they are happy and smiling for being able to see us; their Nepali connections. It’s a special feeling.” Are they really happy? How is their new home in China? I tried to find answers through Zhang Xueli, general manager of Chimelong Safari Park.

Excerpts from the interview:

What is the current status of baby rhinos brought from Nepal?

On 12 July 2018, the young Bhadra and Rupasi boarded a chartered flight from Nepal's capital Kathmandu to Guangzhou to start their new life in Chimelong, China. Bhadra and Rupasi are in good condition and have grown up healthy. Bhadra, the male Greater One-horned Rhino, has grown from 670 kg to 1,830 kg, with a total weight gain of 1,160 kg, while the female Rupasi, has grown from 865 kg to 1,474 kg, with a total weight gain of 609 kg.  

Have they adapted to the new environment? How is their nature, food habits and daily activities?

Yes, they are now adapted to their living environment in Chimelong. They are docile and enjoy basking in the sun on the ground. They are large and cute animals. In order to ensure that Nepal’s national treasure is better adapted to the Chinese environment, Chimelong Group has specially set up a special farm for Asian rhinos, planting a large number of high-quality elephant grass for Greater One-horned Rhinos to eat a large amount of food, while adding other grass, leaves, some amount of vegetables and fruits, concentrate and other foods to make it nutritiously balanced. RUPASI especially likes carrots. At the same time, in order to solve the imbalance of dietary fat, soluble and insoluble carbohydrates, minerals and vitamins, Chimelong has developed a special diet for them, adding salt bricks during the feeding process. We believe that the inorganic salts in salt bricks can promote the bone growth of Greater One-horned Rhinos. In addition, Chimelong deliberately expanded the logistics conservation area, which consists of the hay area and the soil area, so that they can express their daily behaviors freely- roll mud bath and grind.

Do you plan to continue keeping them in a special protected area or relocate in the public section of the park?

At present, the two rhinos from Nepal are nearing adulthood. Because the species is so valuable, breeding and enlarging the population is a priority compared to the park display. Chimelong is currently concentrating its efforts to carry out scientific research and strive for early reproduction. Meanwhile, Chimelong has put the exhibition on the agenda and will show them to the public at the right time.

Any specific future plans regarding the increase in their population?

Chimelong has built a herbivorous research center, and continues to carry out scientific research on rhino protection and breeding, constantly breaking through the artificial conservation technology of rhinos, and successfully achieving the breeding of black and white rhinos. At present, Chimelong animal conservation and scientific research team is working on the conservation technology of Greater One-horned Rhino, cooperating with the European Association of Zoos and Aquariums (EAZA) and  participating in EAZA breeding program, and striving to achieve successfully breeding at an early date. In addition, we hope that the Nepali authorities will re-approve the export of Greater One-horned Rhino to Chimelong and establish a sustainable artificial population in Chimelong. In the future, Greater One-horned Rhinos individuals born in Chimelong will be returned to Nepal, making contributions to Nepal’s wild population protection and public education, as well as the world's rhino conservation.

Since they are in a special protected area, do the Chinese public have any impression about these Nepali rhinos?

More than 100 years ago, the Greater One-horned Rhino was distributed in the wild in China. There are records of rhinos on oracle bone inscriptions dating back more than 3,000 years, referring to the Greater One-horned Rhino. Even now, the Greater One-horned Rhino has a high profile among the Chinese public and is an important flagship species that China needs to restore its wild population in the future. Bhadra and Rupasi carry the deep friendship and trust of the Nepalese people to the Chinese people. As the symbol and messenger of China-Nepal friendship, they have been carefully cared for and managed by the Chimelong conservation team. They are growing healthily and vigorously in their new home in Guangzhou.

What is the significance of these rhinos in China? How will the Sino-China friendship be promoted through this precious gift? 

The Greater One-horned Rhino carries the memory of the Chinese people for thousands years, and has a high status in the minds of the Chinese people. Greater One-horned Rhino is extinct in the wild in China. We hope that with the gradual recovery of wild habitats in China, we can reintroduce Greater One-horned Rhinos to the wild in China in the near future through our efforts. Nepal is known in China for its famous snow-capped mountains, and the Chinese public doesn't know much about Nepal’s Greater One-horned Rhinos. Through the publicity of the Greater One-horned Rhinos of Nepal, people can learn about the diversified wildlife and natural environment of Nepal, more and more people will be attracted to travel to Nepal, friendly exchanges between the people of China and Nepal will be promoted, and the friendship between two countries will be enhanced. May the friendship between people of China and Nepal last forever.