Nepal boosts anti-poaching patrols after jailbreaks

Agencies:

Nepal has intensified anti-poaching operations to protect its prized tigers, elephants and rhinos after dozens of convicted poachers escaped prison during an anti-government uprising in September, conservation officers said on Wednesday.

“This is a matter of concern for all conservationists,” Bed Kumar Dhakal, deputy director general at the Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation, told AFP.

“It is an added threat to our conservation efforts, so we have directed all the national parks to increase regular patrolling.”

More than 50 poachers and wildlife traffickers escaped prison among a mass jailbreak of 14,500 detainees countrywide.

Many returned or have been recaptured, but police are still hunting for more than 5,000 fugitives.
That includes at least 18 convicted poachers, according to officials from Chitwan, the country’s flagship park and a UNESCO World Heritage site.