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Chitwan National Park
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Grafik Nepal National Parks Chitwan
Chitwan National Park: Leopard set free February 2003
Chitwan National Park: Royal Bengal tiger killed January 2003
Chitwan National Park: Poachers killed rhinos December 2002
Depleting of grassland in Chitwan Park endangers birds October 2002
Gandak Barrage poses threat to crocodile life September 2002
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Chitwan National Park: Leopard set free
February 2003

The Park Officials set a leopard free in the park. The wild leopard was captured from Tin Thana VDC of Kirtipur after it started attacking the locals and domestic cattle in the VDC. The officials had captured the leopard four days ago

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Chitwan National Park: Royal Bengal tigers killed
January 2003
Bengal tiger At the Chitwan National Park a tigress was shot dead by park officials in self-defence recently.
A Royal Bengal Tiger has died due to poisoning in the Royal Bardiya National Park. Another tiger has been shot dead in the Chitwan National Park. The incident of poisoning has occurred barely two weeks after the death of five spotted deer in Bardiya after eating grass laced with pesticide.

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Chitwan National Park: Poachers killed rhinos
December 2002

According to Park officials, Poachers shot dead eight of the14 one-horned rhinos found dead in the protected Chitwan National Park in the five months. Poachers escaped with six horns.

Tigers killed two calves and eight others died naturally. Two tigers and one leopard have died in more than four months.

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Depleting of grassland in Chitwan Park endangers birds
October 2002

Due to floods and swelling of rivers and streams inside the Royal Chitawan National Park, hundreds of hectares of grassland have been converted into bare river banks badly affecting the existence of rare species of birds normally sheltering there. watercock
Heron Florican   Water-cock Lapwing

These birds usually reproduce during the monsoon season, but due to the floods the nests and the eggs have been destroyed.

Experts and bird-watchers lament that birds that normally migrate to this place, have started to abandon their usual niche here. 20 percent of the grassland region of the park is declining every year.

As a result of the flooding of the Rapti river, Budhirapti river, the Dhungre stream and many other streams, 500 hectares of grassland, as well as 50 hectares of forest region have been waterlogged and covered in sand.

Due to this flooding those native birds living at the Bishajari as well as those coming in from other parts, around 120 different species of birds have been adversely affected. Lack of a shelter, have rendered species such as Heron, Florican, Lapwing, water-cocks, homeless and endangering their survival. Of the more than 500 species of birds found in the Royal Chitawan National Park, more than 100 species are directly and indirectly dependent upon the grassland. The main bird watching site at Bishajari region holds around 150 varieties of birds of which around 20 have flown down here from Siberia, Sri Lanka, India and many other places.

Though birds have been affected the most by the depletion of the grassland, the depletion has also affected wild animals like rhinoceros, deer, elephant and many others. After the tall grass in the interiors was destroyed, the animals searching for fodder started to enter paddy plantations in the mid-region.

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Gandak Barrage poses threat to crocodile life
September 2002
Gharial The Gandak Barrage built on the mighty Narayani River at Tribeni has been posing threats to conservation efforts of endangered crocodile, according to crocodile experts. The Ghadiyal crocodile is listed as an endangered reptile due to its diminishing population the world over.The Royal Chitwan National Park releases thousands of young Ghadiyal and Magarmach crocodiles into the river to maintain the population of these two species of reptiles.

Crocodile experts say there has been a negative impact on the life cycle of these endangered amphibians due to the barrage that remains opened during the monsoon and closed down during the dry season. When the barrage is opened during the monsoon the swelling river sweeps all the young crocodiles away towards India and they cannot come upstream because of the closure of the barrage during the dry season.

The life cycles of other aquatic animals such as fish and tortoises are in danger, as their movement is also blocked during their breeding seasons."It is meaningless to hatch them here if they cannot be preserved," said the expert, "We have found a large number of crocodile finger-links (young) in paddy fields in India." He said most of them die there with recession of the monsoon and others cannot swim upstream because the barrage blocks their way.Since its establishment in 1978, Crocodile Breeding Center has already released around 1,000 crocodiles in Narayani, Kaligandaki, Kosi and Babai Rivers. Last year, the centre released 10 more crocodiles in the Narayani River in a bid to maintain its population. Survival rate of these crocodiles is only 30 per cent and it takes almost three years for them to grow.Experts said that survival rate of these reptiles in their natural habitats is very low - less than one per cent. It is because their eggs are either washed away by floods, or are stolen by human beings. Adult crocodiles also sometimes eat young crocodiles.

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