Now, it is easier to understand the function of the armour-plated skin of the rhinoceros.
You can eat in peace if you have that kind of protection from possible attackers.
But our unicorns have a taste for the high grasses of the banks of the swamp, and both
in Kaziranga and here in Chitwan, these grasses are also a valuable resource for the human
populations living around the edge of the park.
Since 1973, when it was declared a National Park, due to the fact it was the only place
in Nepal where rhinoceroses remained, a number of human settlements have been moved, the
people transferred to more fertile places without wild herbivores.
However, 310 villages
have not been able to be relocated, and they remain in direct contact with the Park.
When the season arrives, the local inhabitants cross the river, and enter the reserves, armed
with their recently-sharpened sickles.
Here they find what they are looking for. The natives have a legal concession to harvest
The natives have a legal concession to harvest the high grasses each year.
Around 60,000 people gather almost 11,000 tonnes during
harvest time, which lasts for 15 days or so.
The bushels accumulate, reaching a market value of some 450,000 dollars.
After taking off the costs of permits and labour, the net contribution to the local
economy is around 250,000 dollars.
As well as the income from sales to the paper industry, the grasses are also a basic construction
material for these people. They are also used to feed the domestic cattle, which cannot
stray far in search of pasture, for fear of being attacked by tigers.
The heavy monsoon rains make constant repairs to the roofs necessary.
This is also done with dried grass.
Wherever in the world there are people living
in a subsistence economy, we only need to see what the roofs are made of to know what
is the most accessible, cheap local material.
Underground water, clean and healthy, is, fortunately, abundant. And from this, and
the soil, the women make adobe which, of course, also includes grass among its ingredients.
But not all land uses are as uncontroversial as the harvesting of elephant grass.
Wheat and cotton fields are slowly replacing stretches of jungle.
Here, man is constantly present, carrying out the different tasks in the course of the year.
And this creates problems with the local wildlife.
These towers, called “machams” are watchtowers from which to spot wild animals.
There is always a lookout on duty,
ready to raise the alarm whenever a tiger or a rhinoceros enters
the fields, posing a threat to the workers’ lives.
In reality, all the animals are doing is returning to places that were always theirs, but which,
little by little, have been stolen from them by man, who knows how to turn to his advantage
the greatest enemy of the jungle.
But the rainforests of Asia are almost as old as fire itself. They have tremendous powers
of regeneration, the ancient strength of vegetation.
Certain species are invulnerable to fire. They do not burn, they simply resist.
The semul trees are fire-proof, and they are therefore the final refuge in the jungle.
“Chitwan” means “The Heart of the Jungle”. And once more in this part of the world legend
and reality go hand in hand.