101 East

The battle to save Nepal’s wildlife

Tigers and rhinos were almost poached to extinction in Nepal – now their numbers are on the rise. We ask how they did it and at what cost.

In the 1960s, Nepal’s one-horned rhino population had plummeted to less than 100, with poachers threatening it with extinction.

Yet Nepal’s latest rhino census reveals something remarkable – the number of rhinos has grown to 752.

The rise is attributed to one of the world’s toughest anti-poaching approaches, mixed with innovative community-based conservation efforts.

And this success is not limited to the rhino – with the Himalayan nation close to tripling its tiger population in 2022.

101 East investigates one of the greatest conservation success stories in Asia and asks if it is sustainable.