Chitwan National Park

It was the royal hunting ground of Nepal's ruling class from the late 19th century, with organised shoots that killed hundreds of tigers and rhinos in a single season to entertain visiting British royalty. By around 1950, poaching and deforestation had cut the one-horned rhino population to barely 95 animals; the government responded by creating Nepal's first national park in 1973, patrolled by the Nepalese army itself from 1975, an unusual measure that has held to this day. Thanks to it, almost 90% of Nepal's rhinos now live in Chitwan, one of the greatest large-mammal conservation successes in South Asia.