CNP recognized as best conservation area for tigers

CNP recognized as best conservation area for tigers

Nepal has accomplished yet another milestone in its efforts to conserve wild animals by meeting a set of international standards considered ideal for the conservation of tigers.

Rich in biodiversity of both flora and fauna, Nepal´s Chitwan National Park (CNP) has received the international recognition for being the best conservation zone for tiger protection. The CNP´s management has excelled under all of the 17 major standards prescribed internationally for creating best grounds for tiger protection.

chitwan-national-park

“This is a great achievement for Nepal. Now, recognized for having the best conservation area for big cats, the success truly reflects the combined efforts of the Nepal government, local communities, the Nepal Army and various organizations working hand in hand to create a better shelter for tigers. I hope other countries will take lesson from what Nepal has achieved in the past few years,” said Mike Baltzer of the WWF Alive Initiative.

The recognition to CNP is given by CATS (Conservation Assured Tiger Standards), an international committee devoted to develop and assure best habitation ground for the wild life protection across the globe.

According to Khalid Pasha, manager at CATS, a survey was conducted under major standards like tiger population, the involvement of local communities, overall management of the park and work force, flow of tourist, and management of tiger habitation. CNP has secured impressive points in all these important categories.

“This is a great success for Nepal, a gold standard that marks the well management of CNP when it comes to tiger conservation. This achievement should certainly work as an inspiration for other tiger range countries to meet similar standards and create better homes for these valuable forest animals,” said Pasha.

Nestled at the foothills of Himalaya, CNP is a home for 120 tigers along with 68 species of mammals, 54 species of birds and 126 species of fishes. The park is best known for the protection of One Horned Rhinoceros, Royal Bengal Tiger and Ghariyal Crocodile. Located in the Southern Central Tarai region of Nepal, the park extends to an area of 93,200 hectors of land, spreading in four districts Nawalparasi, Parsa, Chitwan and Makawanpur.

Pasha further shared that the achieved accreditation not only signifies the best wild life management of CNP but it will also help win trusts of bigger donors with intention to donate for wild life conservation.

“Having achieved this certification, Nepal has now earned the respect of other countries and donors abroad,” said Pasha.

Meanwhile, Tika Ram Adhikari, director general at the Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation, attributed the success to the teamwork.

“In the coming days, we are planning to introduce this wildlife quality management certification for conservation of various other animals in both Banke National Park and Shukla Phanta Wildlife Reserve. We hope to create safest shelters in Nepal for all types wild animals,” said Adhikari.

Source: myrepublica

Chitwan Elephant fest slated to start Dec 26

Chitwan Elephant fest slated to start Dec 26

The 11th edition of the Chitwan Elephant Festival is scheduled to be held in Sauraha from December 26-30 on the occasion of Christmas and New Year 2015.

Chitwan-elephant-festival

The festival is aimed at promoting tourism and spreading awareness about wildlife preservation, said Suman Ghimire, coordinator of the event. It started in 2004 as an international elephant race and since then it has been celebrated as a festival.

The organizer said that a picnic would also be organized for the elephants this year. “Wildlife is our asset and it should be preserved well,” said Ghimire. Another objective of the festival is to encourage tourists to remain in Nepal through the Christmas and the New Year holidays as most of them return to their own countries for the celebrations. The holiday season is also a lean period for Nepal tourism as arrivals start dropping from mid-December. “The festival is targeted at increasing tourist numbers,” said Gyanendra Kumar Bista, president of Regional Hotel Association Nepal in Chitwan. “Such events will also help create awareness to preserve wildlife.”

Hotels and restaurants offer discounts and serve distinct varieties of foods for visitors. Local hotels and restaurants are normally packed with domestic and international tourists during this time. Around 20 elephants compete in a 150-metre race. Likewise, elephant calves play football while an elephant beauty competition is also held which has become one of the major attractions at the tourist hotspot. The event has been successful in promoting tourism in past years. “This is why we have been continuing the festival,” said Deepak Bhattarai, second vice-president of the association. Apart from foreign visitors, the festival has been attracting huge numbers of domestic visitors. Sauraha has more than 100 hotels and all of them are packed during the festival. The jungle safari destination of Sauraha has not only seen an aggressive development of hotels and resorts over the past few years, entrepreneurs have also been making large investments in elephants to carry tourists on sightseeing tours in the jungle.

Chitwan -safari-nepal_966x543

Around Rs 330 million has been spent on rearing elephants. The jumbos have become an integral part of tour packages of the hotels and resorts here.

Situated in the lush tropical plains of southern Nepal, Sauraha attracts safari goers with its rich wildlife and thick jungles. There are 51 elephants owned by hoteliers and cooperatives in Sauraha .

Source: Ekantipur

Beautiful places in Nepal for your vacation

Nepal and Himalayas have been the synonym words for Nepal enjoys the pride of having 8 out of 10 highest peaks of the world! We don’t have only mountains but our unique geography has given us green hills and valleys, rivers, subtropical forests and flat lands all adding beauty to our country. Apart from geographical diversity, we have incredible cultural diversity within the boundary of our small Himalayan Kingdom. We have a number of ethnic groups, each with their own languages, cultures, and costumes, all living in perfect harmony.

The best way to experience unbeatable combination of natural beauty and cultural riches of Nepal is to walk through terrain. One can walk along the beaten trails or virgin tracks. Either way you are in for an experience of a lifetime. Along with rhododendron forests, isolated hamlets, small mountain villages, birds, animals, temples, monasteries (Gomba) breathtaking landscape of unsurpassable mountain ranges, you will also encounter friendly people of different cultures and traditional rural life.

The great Mountains with unsurpassable splendor, crystal clear streams and brooks, the high current of rivers, colorful species of flowers, birds and animals, abundance of greenery and forests with much more hidden beauty and mystery with unavoidable adventure and fun will be waiting for you.

Here are the best tourist attractions in Nepal you can visit:

Kathmandu:

Nepal’s Kathmandu Valley

Kathmandu is Nepal’s largest city and capital of Nepal. Kathmandu is situated in a valley in the heart of Nepal. Kathmandu is famous for many Buddhist temples and in it, mostly from the 17th century. One example is the Kathmandu’s Durbar Square. Buildings that are open admiration in Nepal as a tourist attraction was built in the 16th century, contains a marvelous royal palace and many temples built in traditional pagoda style.

Durbar Square. This complex of palaces, courtyards and temples like Hanumandhoka Palace, Kumari Ghar (Abode of the Living Goddess), Taleju temple, built between the 12th and 18th centuries, used to be the seat of the ancient Malla Kings of Kathmandu. An intriguing piece here is the 17h -century stone inscription set into the wall of the palace with writings in 15 languages. The Durbar Square, protected as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is the social, religious and urban focal point of the city. Even to date, all the major state and social ceremonies, including the solemnization of coronations are performed in one of the courtyards in this complex. There are also museums inside the palace building. There is an entrance fee of Rs. 250 for foreign visitors. Your ticket to the Square entitles you to visit all the museums.

Chitwan:

Chitwan National Park

Nepal’s first & most famous national park, The Chitwan National Park covering 932 sq. Km is situated in the southern terai lowlands of Nepal. Widely known for one of the richest varieties of wild life adventures.Only 160 km from Kathmandu, 155 km from Pokhara & 160 km from the Indian border (Sunauli), Chitwan National Park is the best known safari park in Nepal .It is home to many species of animals such as the world famous royal Bengal Tiger, the great one horned Rhinoceros, 4 different kinds of deer, sloth Bear, Leopards, crocodiles, monkeys as well as many different species of butterflies, insects & over 450 sorts of colorful & endangered birds.

Even if you don’t get the chance to see all of these animals, the rich vegetation with dense forest, grassland & riverside areas will be worth walking through.
From Kathmandu & Pokhara comfortable tourist buses have daily departures to Chitwan. If you have only limited time, you can also fly to Bharatpur Airport which is only 17 km away from Jugle Wildlife Camp.

Pokhara:

pokhara1

The Pokhara Valley, a land of spectacular beauty crowned by the majestic Himalayas, conjures visions of calm but vibrant green hills. Loaded with luxuriant vegetation and dotted with shimmering lakes, the valley offers awesome vistas. Magnificent image of Mount Machhapuchhare reflected in the clear waters of the Lake Phewa leaves everyone spellbound. One of the Nepal’s adventure hubs, it has reputation of being the second home for the tourists worldwide.

The geographical studies reveal that centuries ago a glacier was formed in the valley. As the time passed, the temperatures steadily increased and the solid ice melted and formed a river that began flowing, cutting into the soil of Pokhara. The regular flow of glacial waters created several underground tunnels. Currently, most of these tunnels are dry and are found in the form of caves.

Lumbini:

lumbini (1)

Lumbini is the birth of place of Lord Buddha and has been declared as a World Heritage Site by the UNESCO. It is small town in the southern Terai plains of Nepal, where the ruins of the old city can still be seen. At the age of 84, he left this world with thousands of followers to keep Buddhism alive. Lumbini has since been a holy ground for Buddhists all over the world. The restored garden and surroundings of Lumbini have the remains of many of the ancient stupas and monasteries. A large stone pillar erected by the Indian Emperor Ashoka in 250 BC bears an inscription about the birth of the Buddha. An important part of Lumbini is the temple of Maya Devi. It has stone image of Maya Devi giving birth to Lord Buddha as she holds onto a branch.

An important archeological site near Lumbini, Kapilvastu evokes the ancient palace where Lord Buddha spent his formative years. Scattered foundations of the palace are abundant and archeologists have by now discovered 13 successive layers of human habitation dating back to the eighth century BC.

National bird on verge of extinction

National bird on verge of extinction


The national bird of Nepal Danphe (Lophophorus) is on the verge of extinction in Achham district. Lack of preservation and the conservation of Ramaroshan, the one and only place in the district that houses this national bird, have been attributed for it.

Nepal-national-bird

The National Bird of Nepal

Casting light to the situation, Kali Bahadur Budha, a local said that unlike in the past, the villagers do not see the bird of this species in bulk.
“The concerned authority is not making any effort to conserve the bird as well its habitat, Ramaroshan,” he complained.
A local social worker Govinda Saud added that if the government continues to turn blind eye towards it, Ramaroshan will soon lose its existence apart from its habitats such as birds like Danphe and other wild animals.
People should work united at local level to address this issue, opined Chandra Prasad Dhungana, chairman of the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI), Achham.
Assistant District Forest Officer in Accham, Bhaktaraj Giri, stated that since it is the responsibility of the Department of National Park to conserve wild animals, the District Forest Office so far has not run any program as such.

Source: The Himalayan Times

ल्यान्डमार्क होटलको दिपावली अफर, प्याकेजमा २५ पतिशत छुट

ल्यान्डमार्क होटलको दिपावली अफर, प्याकेजमा २५ पतिशत छुट

सम्राट ग्रुपले आन्तरिक पर्यटकका लागी पोखरा र सौराहामा सञ्चालित होटल तथा रिसोर्टमा ‘दिपावली अफर’ घोषणा गरेको छ ।

अफर अन्तर्गत दुबै होटलका हरेक प्याकेजमा २५ प्रतिशत छुट उपलब्ध गराउने बताइएको छ ।

Landmark-pokhara-hotel

हाेटल ल्यान्डमार्का पाेखरा

सम्राट ग्रुपले पोखराको लेकसाइडमा होटल ल्यान्डमार्क पोखरा र सौराहामा ल्यान्डमार्क फरेष्ट पार्क रिसोर्ट सञ्चालन गरिरहेको छ ।

छुटसँगै पोखराको होटलमा प्रतिव्यक्ति ७ हजार ७७७ रुपैयाँको दुई रात तीन दिनको प्याकेज अब ५ हजार ८ सय रुपैयाँमा उपलब्ध हुने सम्राट ग्रुपका सिइओ सिएन पाण्डेले जानकारी दिए छ ।

त्यसैगरि सौराहामा रहेको रिसोर्टमा प्रतिव्यक्ति ९ हजार ९ सय ९० रुपैयाँको दुई रात तीन दिनको प्याकेज अब ७ हजार ५ सय रुपैयाँमा पाइने छ ।

प्याकेजमा पाइने सेवा सुविधाहरु

छुटसहितको प्याकेजमा पोखरा घुम्न जाने नेपालीहरुलाई होटलमा प्रवेश गर्दा चिसो पेयपदार्थले स्वागत गरिने छ ।

यस प्याकेजमा डिलक्स रुममा बस्न पाइने छ भने हरेक दिन ब्रेकफाष्ट, साँस्कृतिक नृत्यका साथमा डिनर सुविधा, फि्र वाईफाई, एक घण्टाको बोटिङ, कारमा आधा दिन पोखरा शहर भ्रमण, बसपार्क तथा एयरपोर्टसम्म यातायात लगायतका सुविधाहरु उपलबध हुनेछन् ।

Landmark-Forest-Resort

ल्यान्डमार्क फरेष्ट पार्क रिसाेर्ट

त्यसैगरि, सौरहा घुम्न जाने नेपालीहरुलाई पनि चिसो पेय पदार्थले रिसोर्टमा स्वागत गरिने बताइएको छ ।

डिलक्स रुममा उपलब्ध हुनुका साथै हरेक दिन ब्रेकफाष्ट, लञ्च, डिनर, फि्र वाईफाई, थारु गाउँ तथा सूर्यास्तको अवलोकन, थारु कल्चरल डान्स, हात्ती सफारी, बर्ड वाचिङ, हात्ती प्रजनन केन्द्रको अवलोकन लगायतका सुविधाहरु उपलबध हुनेछन् ।

51 snow leopards in Nepal

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There are 51 snow leopards in two national parks and three other conservation areas in Nepal, a recent study revealed. A study carried out by a team of researchers from the Center for Molecular Dynamics, Nepal with financial support from Hario Ban program of World Wildlife Fund (WWF) Nepal and Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation found that 23 big cats were found in Kanchanjunga Conservation Area, 17 in Annapurna Conservation Area, seven in Manaslu Conservation Area and a pair was found each in Langtang National Park and Sagarmatha National Park.

leopard

Methods like micro satellite, Geno-typical technology along with DNA and lab testing of feces were used in tracing and counting snow leopards for the study that took 12 months to complete.

Lab testing of feces of the wild animals had helped the researchers to produce significant findings. DNA testing was key in finding out whether the feces belonged to snow leopard or not. The test also helped to show whether the animal is male or female.

Out of 279 feces samples collected from five different conservation areas, lab tests had proved that 198 samples were of snow leopards. The study has stated that 85 of the samples were collected from Kanchanjunga Conservation Area, 62 from Annapurna Conservation Area and 34 from Manaslu Conservation Area while nine of the samples were collected each from Langtang National Park, and  Sagarmatha National Park.

National Parks and Wildlife Conservation Act 2029 has placed snow leopards under the list of other endangered wild animal found in Nepal.