Poachers in Nepal took advantage of slack monitoring and sparse public movement during the COVID-19 lockdown and the country saw a surge in killings of wildlife under the shadow of the coronavirus pandemic. In the first ten days of the countrywide lockdown, three critically endangered gharial were killed within the vicinity of Chitwan National Park, while an endangered Asiatic elephant was found electrocuted in the Bardiya National Park. On 27 March 2020, gunfire exchanged between about 10-11 poachers and the park rangers assisted by the military at the Parsa National Park. A 37-year-old poacher died, a Nepali Army officer was injured and a 45-year-old man end up being arrested after the shooting. In late April, six Himalayan musk deer (Moschus leucogaster), which are listed as endangered by IUCN, were found dead inside the Sagarmatha National Park. About 54 wire traps were put up by the poachers near Namche Bazaar and one of them even snared a Golden eagle. Nine people were arrested by Solukhumbu District Police in connection to the musk deer killings. Sagarmartha National Park also encountered the illegal cuttings of Laligurans (Rhododendron arboreum), the national flower of Nepal.