Chapter 21 Historical Records of the Rhinoceros in Western Nepal (2024)

21.1 The Western Reaches of Nepal

Given that Nepal remained closed to foreign visitors, the fauna of the terai west of Nepalgunj remained unknown. There is not a single definite record that a rhino lived in this region. It is unlikely that rhinos existed there when the Prince of Wales came to the Sharda River in 1876 or when Franz Ferdinand visited in 1893. Maharaja Juddha Shumsher came here in 1933 and 1936 to hunt, noting that no rhinos were expected (Smythies 1942).

In a survey of the mammal fauna of southern Nepal, the American zoologist David Lee Chesemore (b. 1939) visited western Nepal in 1965. He thought that rhinos might survive although their status was unclear. The Irish explorer Peter Byrne saw a rhino footprint in the Rani Tal area of Shuklaphanta in the 1990s and suggested that it was a stray from the Pilibhit area further south. He talked to local Tharus men, who believed rhinos might have been present “many years ago.” Before the translocation of rhinos into Shuklaphanta National Park in 2000, there was already one male rhino in the sanctuary (Martin et al. 2009a).

To account for these rare rhino sightings in south- western Nepal, it is suggested that these were animals straying from the new populations in Pilibhit Tiger Reserve and Dudhwa National Park across Nepal’s southern border. My conclusion is that there never was a resident rhino population in south-western Nepal in historic times.

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Dataset 21.20: Chronological List of Records of Rhinoceros in Western Nepal

General sequence: Date – Locality (as in original source) – Event – Source – § number, figures – Map number.

The localities are shown on map 20.10 and explained in Dataset 20.19. Records for Shuklaphanta NP after the translocation in 2000 are listed in Dataset 22.21, and those for Bardia NP after 1986 in Dataset 23.22.

1876 – Sarda (Sharda) River – No rhino found during shoot by Albert Edward, Prince of Wales (1841–1910) on invitation of Maharaja Jung Bahadur (1817–1877), Prime Minister and Commander-in-Chief of Nepal 1846 to 1877 – W. Russell 1877; Beresford 1914; Shaha & Mitchell 2001: 40 – 21.2

1876 – Sardah (Sharda) River – In former years it was to be met with in the forests bordering on the Sardah in Nepaul, but it is now extinct there or very nearly so – Baldwin 1876: 145

1893 – West Nepal – No rhino found during shooting expedition of Franz Ferdinand, Archduke of Austria (1863–1914) in western Nepal – Franz Ferdinand 1895; Höfer 2010 – 21.3

1933 – Naya Muluk, between Sarda (Sharda) and Rapti Rivers – No rhinos exist. Maharaja Juddha Shumsher (1875–1952) hunted here in 1933 and 1936 – Smythies 1942: 51

1965 – Bilauri, far SW of Nepal, 28.72N; 80.37E – Rhino may survive, status unknown – Chesemore 1970: 165 – 21.1, map 20.10

1990s – Shuklaphanta – Peter Byrne (b. 1925) showed a photograph of a rhino to local Tharus men, who said that “many years ago” there might have been some in the area – Peter Byrne, email 23.01.2018

1990s – Rani Tal in Shuklaphanta – Rhino track. Possible stray rhino from India – Byrne 2008: 6 – 21.1

2000 – Shuklaphanta – There were perhaps a handful of rhinos in the 20th century but by 2000 only one remained – Martin et al. 2009: 104

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21.2 The Prince of Wales on the Sharda River in 1876

Albert Edward, Prince of Wales was invited to visit the Kingdom by Maharaja Jung Bahadur in 1876. They met in the extreme west of Nepal, in the region of the Sharda River around Banbasa. The detailed itinerary provided by William Howard Russell (1820–1907), the Prince’s Honorary Private Secretary during the trip, gives a description of the daily events in Nepal from 21 February to 6 March 1876. A total of 700 elephants were involved in the chase of tigers and other game, but rhinos were not expected there.

The zoological collection assembled during the Prince’s tour in India and Nepal in 1876 included three rhino skulls from Nepal, and must have been given to the party in February-March. The naturalist attached to the royal party was Clarence Bartlett (1849–1903), the son of the Superintendent of the London Zoo. After the Prince’s return, the hunting trophies and zoological specimens were arranged for exhibition in the Picture Gallery of the Zoological Society’s Gardens, opened to the public on Monday 6 February 1877 (Cambridge Independent Press 1877-02-10). The three rhino skulls were placed on a table adjacent to a huge skull of a Ceylonese elephant. Only one skull is depicted in an engraving by Richard Hewitt Moore in the Illustrated Dramatic News 1877-04-07 (fig. 21.1). The same newspaper reported that they were examined by William Henry Flower (1831–1899), because they were considered to be smaller than usual, who identified them as R. unicornis. It is not known how long the exhibition in the London Zoo lasted. All three skulls with nasal horns were added to the collection of the Royal College of Surgeons of England, curated by Flower, catalogued as nos. 2124 to 2126 (Flower 1884: 417). Another female rhino skull from the Nepal terai was donated in 1883 to the Natural History Museum, London, no. 1883.10.23.3 (Thomas 1906: 18). Elsewhere in London, at the Burlington Gallery, Piccadilly, there was an exhibition of over 200 drawings by the artist William Simpson (1823–1899) labelled as India “Special” (Simpson 1876). On show from 22 June to 30 September 1876, this exhibition had no image of a rhino, but several showing the Prince on a howdah with elephants, shooting bear and tiger.

21.3 The Visit of Franz Ferdinand of Austria in 1893

Franz Ferdinand, Archduke of Austria, visited India and Nepal in 1893. As shown on the map in his book, he traveled from Delhi, past Pilibhit, through the extreme south-western corner of Nepal from Dakna Bhagh to Sohela in March 1893 (Franz Ferdinand 1895). There is no mention of a rhino, nor did he bring home any rhino- related objects or photographs (Höfer 2010).