
The Rhino Whisperer | In Her Nature
Special | 20m 51sVideo has Closed Captions
The story of Nepal's first female nature guide and her fight to save the country's wildlife.
The tragic loss of her mother to a rhino attack hasn’t stopped Doma Paudel from her fearless conservation efforts. Instead, it inspired her to become Nepal's first female nature guide and to fight to save Nepalese rhinos from near extinction, double Nepal’s tiger population, and teach Nepalese communities how to compassionately coexist with wildlife.
Major support for NATURE is provided by The Arnhold Family in memory of Henry and Clarisse Arnhold, The Fairweather Foundation, Sue and Edgar Wachenheim III, Charles Rosenblum, Kathy Chiao and...

The Rhino Whisperer | In Her Nature
Special | 20m 51sVideo has Closed Captions
The tragic loss of her mother to a rhino attack hasn’t stopped Doma Paudel from her fearless conservation efforts. Instead, it inspired her to become Nepal's first female nature guide and to fight to save Nepalese rhinos from near extinction, double Nepal’s tiger population, and teach Nepalese communities how to compassionately coexist with wildlife.
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Series Trailer | In Her Nature
Video has Closed Captions
Meet the courageous women shaping wildlife conservation. (1m 25s)
Providing Support for PBS.org
Learn Moreabout PBS online sponsorship- Right now we are hearing many peacocks.
Wild chicken... Also Mynahs, many jungle Mynahs sounds.
The flowers are the the bambak sibia.
It looks so beautiful with the red flowers everywhere.
Like a flower garden in the national park, Chitwan National Park.
So we just heard some calls of the Sambar deer, so - tiger must be around here.
So let's go for the tiger.
- Okay.
It is safe.
- The most important thing is to realize that whoever they are, wherever they live, their lives make a difference.
In the wildest corners of our Earth, women are still making a difference.
Their courage is saving species and welcoming a new era of coexistence.
But what ignites this passion?
My guess is, it's simply In Her Nature.
- Sorry.
It's so beautiful to see them together.
Oh my God.
- It's like all the mother in the world, she's also protecting her baby too.
Doma is Nepal's first woman nature guide Nature guides, they spend quite a lot of time in the forest.
When they are in the forest, they also find animals that are either injured, or separated from mother.
In many cases, they are the first to find these animals and then report it.
Asking more Puja is our young, cute rhino calf.
She was found injured and separated from mother.
Our team together with the Chitwan National Park, we rescued this and then now taking care.
Maybe she feel... me the momma.
I feel a connection.
Our first attempt is rehabilitate them back into the wild.
The rhino population crashed, below 100.
Rhinos are conservation-dependent species.
For their horn.
It is actually made of keratin, the same material that our hair and nails are made from.
This misconception of their medical properties is actually killing these animals.
If we don't protect them, they will be gone forever.
Millions of creatures are disappearing every day because of human activities.
There's war going on that destroys whole Earth.
In my opinion, we are the most violent and threat to the nature and to the wildlife.
- Wherever there is wildlife or nature conservation-related work, she's always there.
- Oh my God.
What we have seen today, never have seen before.
Two rhinos come to charge each other.
They were fighting for their territory.
Look!
One young rhinos losing the horn.
The old one's trying to escape, trying to look for the safe place.
The old one's really injured, badly injured.
Human-wildlife conflict is rising.
There are so many vulnerable people around the park.
If we could help them, I believe I believe that could help for sustainable conservation of the wildlife and the nature in Nepal.
We have to have eye to eye contact.
It is always good to give the awareness to the young generation so that they can bring more awareness to whole societies, whole families.
So the future generation, they can improve the national park laws or educate about the animals or anti-poaching.
It is more better for the conservation if we give the awareness to the communities and also to the school children.
- Tiger!
- Tiger!
I think he's pooping, I guess.
I think he's pooping.
Maybe we can find his scat here.
Yeah, he's scratching.
I do have experience setting the camera traps a bit high above the ground when the area is full of rhinos because sometime rhino destruct the camera.
I am wildlife biologist.
I started working on big and small cats, small tiger and fishing cats.
In 2010, Nepal's tiger population wass below 100.
Nepal has a goal to double the population of tiger by 2022.
Then the National Parks collaborate with different NGOs and the local communities because without them, conservation of any species is not possible.
In 2022, the National tiger census of Nepal shows there are 355 tigers in the country.
Nepal is the first country to almost triple the tiger population.
So Nepal is very successful.
Camera trapping is the most used technique for the tiger monitoring.
In this way, we can differentiate individuals of tiger.
Doma is a change-maker for the rhino conservation, for the tiger conservation and to minimize the wildlife attack to the people.
She is the first woman nature guide in the country.
In context of Nepal in our society, you know where the male dominant, they have different thoughts regarding the female going to the jungle.
She is brave enough to take that step.
I think she is a role model to every woman.
How she's brave enough to save the travelers in the forest, you know, and how she can be the perfect guide.
- Myself, Mita, I'm a here nature guide.
I've been a nature guide since five years.
I learning so much things on a day by day.
- Because you are home and my home is natural.
Too far away.
Yeah.
And you also rooming around my place too.
Also when I saw you, I wanna be do that.
Like that?
Yeah.
Okay.
Then - DOMA is so close with the forest.
Her family was surely dependent on the resources close by.
She lost her mother due to rhino.
Despite of these old things, she chose to contribute for the nature.
Now there are other females in this wildlife guiding sector and they are looking at her - In this field.
Before I was only alone and now I have like full, you know, like ladies power, being in nature.
It connect to us.
We see the forest, we see the animals that all connected to the each other.
They call me the one, who is not afraid.
Major support for NATURE is provided by The Arnhold Family in memory of Henry and Clarisse Arnhold, The Fairweather Foundation, Sue and Edgar Wachenheim III, Charles Rosenblum, Kathy Chiao and...