'Honeymoon suite' to boost Nepal rhinos' love life (BBC)

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By Joanna Jolly
BBC News, Kathmandu

A "honeymoon suite" for two rare rhinos has opened at a Nepal zoo in the latest attempt to encourage the pair to mate.

Kancha, 20, and Kanchi, 22, have lived together in captivity for most of their lives, but the Asian one-horned rhinos have never bred and often squabbled.

Officials at the zoo in the Nepali capital Kathmandu hope the pair's new, much larger home will finally put them in the mood for romance.

Asian one-horned rhinos are endangered. In Nepal, only 435 remain in the wild.

Thousands of the species once roamed the plains of Nepal and northern India, but their numbers have dwindled due to poaching and habitat loss.
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more: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-10983513