It has taken a deep seated commitment to realise this benchmark. The country has recorded two years without a single rhino being poached, with the help of a strong political will directed towards conservation as well as community-led conservation programmes, which have helped the country get there.

There are 645 rhinos living in Nepal, the highest number recorded by the country.

“It takes a whole country to achieve conservation success like zero poaching, and Nepal has just done that one more time,” said Shubash Lohani, deputy director of WWF’s Eastern Himalaya Ecoregion programme. “This rare success gives us a hope for a better future for rhinos.”

Nepal is now positive that they will complete another 365 days without any incident by May 2, 2017, to complete a third effective year.

India has also recorded fewer incidents of poaching in the past few years. Between 2006-2015, 200 rhinos have been killed by poachers in India. In April 2016, a rhino was poached only hours after Prince William’s visit to Kaziranga National Park, bringing the year’s total to 7 for the first four months of the year.