As over a third of the human population remains on lockdown, authorities are patrolling the streets to ensure that people stay home. In Nepal, however, one particularly intimidating volunteer has offered their services.
A viral video shared by Indian Forest Services officer Parveen Kaswan shows a mostly-deserted street in Nepal, near the Chitwan National Park. The undated video shows a cumbersome rhino patrolling the streets before encountering one very unlucky man, who decided to take a stroll.
Taking social distancing to the extreme, just one look at the rhino’s fearsome horn was enough to send the man scarpering to safety, eliciting laughs and cheers from those nearby.
The rhino briefly gave chase before losing interest, having proven its point about staying at home, and carried on its nonchalant stroll. The footage has garnered over 9,000 likes and over 120,000 views since it was posted on Monday.
Many applauded the rhino’s efforts in helping the Nepalese to fight off the spread of coronavirus infection.
A nationwide lockdown has been imposed in Nepal since March 24 to prevent the spread of coronavirus. It was initially supposed to last just one week but has since been extended until April 15. Nepal has nine confirmed cases of coronavirus infection, no deaths and one person has recovered, according to the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center.
Rhino sightings are apparently common in the vicinity of the national park, which reportedly has a rather sizable rhino population.
The rhino was not alone in its courageous effort, however, as wildlife across the Indian subcontinent appears to be stepping up to help humans self-isolate in their homes, as footage from Kerala taken in March shows.
“The body language of this tusker mimics a ‘Monitoring officer,’” Sudha Ramen of the Indian Forest Service tweeted previously, captioning footage purporting to show an Indian elephant doing its part to fight the coronavirus.
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