Bardiya National Park, Nepal, Achieves Anti-Poaching Success During Covid Pandemic

Wild female Bengal tiger in Bardiya National Park. Copyright Patrice Correia | Dreamstime.com

For the past two years, we have been deploying Global Park Defense for park and wildlife protection in Bardiya National Park, Nepal in collaboration with the Zoological Society of London (ZSL) and the Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation of Nepal.

Our primary goals were to support species recovery through the strengthening of law enforcement and regular biological monitoring in all lowland protected areas of Nepal including Bardiya and Banke National Parks.

Bardiya National Park is the largest wilderness area in lowland Nepal and has globally important populations of tigers, rhinos, elephants and other endangered and iconic species. Located in the Karnali floodplain, Bardiya National Park is one of the most biodiversity-rich protected areas in lowland Nepal. 

Spotted deer and monkeys in the forests of Bardiya National Park. Copyright Patrice Correia | Dreamstime.com

The open border with India often makes it easier for poachers to get into the park, and the national park and surrounding area are highly susceptible to illegal activities. 

Weak site security and inaccessibility are among the major reasons for the increased illegal activities threatening the endangered wildlife; it is difficult for rangers to patrol the northern side of the park. Deployment of Global Park Defense, using cellular trailcams to provide real-time surveillance for rapid response to wildlife poachers operating in the more remote areas, is crucial to addressing this issue.

Tarai grey langur family. Copyright Alberto Carrera | Dreamstime.com

In 2020, surveillance trail cameras deployed by Banke National Park and supported by GC transmitted images of poachers with hunting provisions, leading to their arrests by park rangers and the Nepali Army. 

In nearby Shuklaphanta National Park, ZSL received photos of poachers with weapons, alerting enforcement teams to arrest two poachers and confiscate their kill (hog deer) and weapon (muzzle rifle). 

Babai River, Bardiya National Park. Copyright Alberto Carrera | Dreamstime.com

Likewise, images received from the surveillance cameras deployed in Bardiya showed intruders entering the forest to collect various forest products. Outmaneuvering these illegal activities is essential, requiring both the adoption of state-of-the-art conservation methods to aid law enforcement agencies and increasing the presence of park rangers and the Nepali Army.      

Nepal’s rhino count in 2021 showed that Nepal has 752 rhinos in its protected areas, with Bardiya holding the second largest population after Chitwan National Park. Similarly, the national tiger survey in 2018 showed 425%, 74% and 157% increase in tiger population in Banke, Bardiya and Parsa National Parks, respectively, compared to population estimates from 2013. Bardiya National Park alone holds the second largest tiger population in Nepal.

Greater one-horned rhinoceros and calf, Bardiya National Park. Copyright Alberto Carrera | Dreamstime.com

SMART Deployment

Two orientation trainings were conducted to enhance the knowledge of 158 frontline rangers, including 68 from the Nepali Army, on real-time SMART patrolling. The trainings significantly enhanced the knowledge and understanding of the park and army staff on conservation, patrolling, and technology using GSM-enabled surveillance cameras to strengthen law enforcement in Bardiya and Banke National Parks.

Equipment Support

During this project, Bardiya National Park rangers and army battalions deployed in the park were supported with essential equipment including 6 GPS units, 15 first aid kits, 2 velocity devices (speed gun), 20 halogen lights, and drinking water bottles to support law enforcement missions and to boost the morale of law enforcement personnel.

Bengal tiger in Bardiya National Park. Copyright Alberto Carrera | Dreamstime.com

Patrol Operations

During 2020, ZSL supported 20 sweeping operations in Bardiya-Banke Complex including long-range and short-range patrols. A total of 150km were covered by these operations resulting in the arrest of 33 intruders for different illegal activities such as fishing, poaching, illegal logging, and illegal firewood collection. Five fishing nets and eight snares were seized from the core area of the park. 

The sweep operations were important to collect data on illegal logging, poaching and resource extraction, which would allow the planning of future patrols. Such operations are also important to identify and monitor the important wildlife species in the park. The Global Conservation-funded project also provided fuel to the park authority to enhance their mobility for patrolling.

Poachers captured with illegal weapons and bushmeat in Bardiya National Park.

Cellular Trailcam Deployment

Thirty-three GSM-enabled trail cameras were provided to Bardiya-Banke National Park authority to strengthen the rapid response to high-threat areas. Both parks have dedicated a staff member to act as a focal person for camera deployments and to respond to the alerts received. A total of 3,299 alerts were received during this reporting period including 2,381 from Bardiya and 918 from Banke National Park.

Rapid Response Pays Off

543 intrusion alerts were received from 408 separate events in the Bardiya-Banke Complex. 85% (215) were responded to with average response time of around 40 minutes. 260 responses were successful and contributed to the seizure of 15 guns and 60 cutting tools, and the arrest of 16 persons as well as the deterrence of 203 persons. Among those, 102 intruders were released with a nominal fine and 131 with a verbal warning.

During a three-day-long sweeping operation in the mid-northern side of Bardiya NP in December 2020, the patrol team discovered a temporary shed which they suspected was being used by poachers.

GSM-enabled cameras caught the poachers red-handed. The images sent by the cameras were heart-breaking, showing piles of bushmeat left out to dry. Later that same evening, the RRT moved in around the spot and were able to detain two poachers with three guns, ammunition, and more than 70 kg of dried meat. Two more poachers were arrested based on the images captured by the cameras a week later. The poachers confessed to hiding a gun in the jungle which was later confiscated. All four poachers have been charged with illegal entry and killing of wildlife inside the protected area and are being imprisoned without bail based on the National Parks and Wildlife Conservation Act (1973) and Arms and Ammunition Act (1963).

Track through a forest in Bardiya National Park. Copyright Alberto Carrera | Dreamstime.com

The officials from Bardiya NP also launched an investigation into the matter and found that the offenders were residents of the buffer zone of the park, and they had been inconspicuously supplying meat to the nearby markets. This goes to show that despite Nepal’s exemplary conservation efforts, the threat of poaching still looms large. The impacts of the pandemic are expected to increase such incidents.

In Banke National Park, surveillance cameras led to the arrest of 12 poachers. During a routine long-range patrol, the patrol team discovered a site that showed evidence of human activities. Following this, four offline cameras were deployed for 15 days at the site. Once the cameras were retrieved and the images analyzed, the Anti-Poaching Unit found poachers with guns.

Cellular trail camera images of poachers in Bardiya National Park.

The Anti-Poaching Unit (APU) made use of their informant network to identify the offenders and arrested nine of them from a nearby settlement outside the buffer zone of the national park. Three offenders surrendered themselves to the park authorities and authorities confiscated eight guns, ammunitions, and supplies. All 12 offenders have been charged under the DNPWC Act.

Poachers arrested with the help of trail cameras; later three more poachers surrendered.

Alert images received from trail cameras revealed a man with a gun inside the national park. The response team seized guns and supplies from the location (right).

Primary Goals of GC-Funded Protection Program

Strengthened Anti-Poaching Patrolling

• Conduct inception and stakeholder meetings to brief the project activities.
• Conduct SMART orientation trainings for frontline staff of Bardiya NP and Nepali Army.
• Provide equipment (e.g. binoculars, GPS) for patrolling  
• Support regular long-range sweeping operations focusing on Karnali floodplains.
• Train senior park staff and selected army officers in patrol data analysis.
• Provide fuel/transport for enhancing patrols.

Male spotted deer in Bardiya National Park. Copyright Patrice Correia | Dreamstime.com

Improved Conservation Technology for Rapid Response 

• Assess and review current rapid response mechanism and coverage, and threats and opportunities.
• Train 10 selected staff from Bardiya and Nepali Army in rapid response techniques.
• Extend GSM-enabled camera network and implement adaptive redeployment schedule (batteries, recharge, and logistics).
• Establish photo library for all incoming images captured, to feed into adaptive management of all law enforcement activities.
• Update and strengthen Bardiya NP rapid response protocol.
• Train senior park staff and selected army officers in wildlife crime data analysis.
• Conduct regular stakeholders meeting to share the effectiveness of conservation technology (GSM-enabled cameras).
• Training on trail camera deployment and camera deployment in the field.

Purple sunbird. Copyright Patrice Correia | Dreamstime.com

ZSL's Commitment to Human Rights

Despite this project heavily relying on the success of law enforcement activities to deter illegal activities in the NP, ZSL remains committed to complying with basic human rights and ethics standards during the implementation of the project, including sharing this knowledge and practices with implementing partners. Although several arrests were made during the project period, the locals involved in illegal activities for subsistence living as well as due to limited understanding of protected area's (PA) rules and regulations were released with verbal warnings. Through this project, we were mainly concerned with controlling the commercial poaching of high-value wildlife.

Greater one-horned rhinoceros. Copyright Alberto Carrera | Dreamstime.com