Nepal holds a diverse form of both the climatic and geographical features, including tropical forests and arctic conditions. It shows immense importance to its wildlife resources by dedicating 20 percent of the country’s land declared as a protected area. One can witness Nepal’s richness of floras and faunas through its numbers of national parks, wildlife reserves, conservation parks, and a hunting reserve forest. Among them, Chitwan National Park and Sagarmatha National Park are the most prominent ones, recognized by UNESCO’s World Heritage Sites.
The Chitwan National Park in Nepal is one of the most popular wildlife reserved areas in Nepal. It finds its edge over other parks with its variety of rare species like One-horned Rhino and Royal Bengal Tiger. Apart from these, it is also home for a wide range of species like rhesus monkey, wild boar, sloth bear, deer, leopard, etc. One can make thrill out of this park through various options of safari, such as elephant back tour, nature walks, river rafting, canoeing, or jeep ride, etc.
A few miles away from the Chitwan National Park, there lies Parsa Wildlife Reserve, where a profuse amount of species dwell their habitation. The park embraces faunas, such as langur, hyenas, ratels, wild dogs, sambar, barking hoe, blue bull, leopard, elephant, tiger, and many more. It covers an area of 499 sq km, alluring the visitors with its spectacularly grown Sai trees and unique vegetation along with sweet sounds of chirping birds. Some of the most eye-catching birds that one can witness in this park are giant peafowl, hornbill, and flycatchers.
Driving towards the south-western part of Nepal, there nestled the Shukla Phanta Wildlife Reserve, covering an area of 305 sq km. Adorning with greenery, it boasts for its endowment of a diverse form of wildlife species, including 24 animals and 350 birds approximately. Among them, 180 of the species are rare and endangered.
Situated at the height of around 3000 meters above sea level, the Sagarmatha National Park stands distinctly, offering the glorious picturesque of Mount Everest. The park is home to endangered species like snow leopard, a variety of sensational pheasants, and red panda in their natural habitat. Along with them, there are 118 and above species of bird and 26 identified variety of butterflies fluttering in this park.
In the Annapurna range of the Himalayas, there shines the Annapurna Conservation Area, serving as the largest prevented area of Nepal. It protects around 100 species of wild animals comprising blue sheep and snow leopard along with 478 species of birds, 39 variety of reptiles, and 22 amphibian types. The diverse forms of orchids and rhododendrons also adorned with the beauty of this park.
In spite of all this richness in wildlife species, many of them have been threatening and endangering. For this reason, various steps and measures are taken up by Nepal’s wildlife authorities. Royal Bengal tigers were almost into the level of extinction in Nepal over the last decades. However, with the relentless efforts of Nepal Wildlife Conservation, the endangered species has been able to increase their population in recent years. All these are made possible by the efforts of the anti-poaching rangers and installation of the buffer zones around the national parks, reducing conflicts between humans and wildlife. The number of breeding adult tigers has been rapidly increasing in the Chitwan National Park alone.
It is due to the disturbance on habitat and land fragmentation of forests area that leads to the decline of biodiversity. Wildlife corridors in Nepal act as an unraveling solution by connecting the land patches to enable safe movement and passage of animals between the protected area. It helps in mobilizing the floras and faunas during their migration seasons, thereby reducing the conflicts between humans and wildlife. The wildlife corridors also play a significant role in sustaining the population of rare species like Bengal tigers and Asian Elephants efficiently by linking the areas.
Nepal’s commitment to the conservation of wildlife resources is an awe-inspiring one. It is through the enthusiastic efforts that help them sustain the number of rare species like the royal Bengal tiger.