KATHMANDU — Amid the tall, rustling elephant grass on the banks of a nearly stagnant Rapti River, half a dozen spotted deer approach mounds of rhino excrement. Unbeknown to them, a camera trap nearby is recording, and it catches them as, with delicate sniffs and tentative nibbles, they begin to eat this most unexpected of snacks. It’s not just spotted deer (Axis axis); the cast of animals drawn to these unlikely buffets is diverse. Barking deer (Muntiacus muntjak), wild boars (Sus scrofa), rhesus monkeys (Macaca mulatta) and peafowl (Pavo cristatus) were also found roaming around the droppings left by greater one-horned rhinos (Rhinoceros unicornis), according to a recently published study assessing the efficacy of reintroduction of species to habitats from which they’ve been extirpated. “We found that while some animals ate bits and pieces of the dung, others consumed herbs, seedlings or mushrooms that had grown on the dung,” study lead author Balram Awasthi, from the Chinese Academy of Sciences, told Mongabay. “Similarly, there were others that ate insects found on or near the dung or relieved themselves close to the dung or even sniffed it.” A one-honed rhino photographed at its latrine site. Image courtesy of Balram Awasthi. Rhinos, once abundant on the floodplains of the Ganga and the Indus but now restricted to patches in India and Nepal, are known to defecate in the same area time and again over a period of time. Researchers have also observed multiple rhinos choosing to poop in the same spot. This…This article was originally published on Mongabay
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