Number of Himalayan Marmot up in Dolakha

By Sujan Kafle,Dolakha, May 11: The number of Himalayan Marmots (Fau Muso), has increased in the northern high Himalayan region of Dolakha. Found only at an altitude above 3,000 meters, its number has gone up rapidly in recent times.

Locals say that more than 3,500 Himalayan Marmots are found in Bigu Rural Municipality-1, Lapchi, in the district.

Kara Sherpa, a resident of Bigu Rural Municipality-1 Lapchi, attributed the increase in population to the animal giving birth to an average of four to five babies at a time.

The animal mostly resides in the areas bordering China. Known as a shy animal, the Himalayan Marmot sleeps for up to 6 months. As the atmosphere is quiet in October, they sleep in the cave all day and night.

Sherpa said that the animal wakes up during lightning in the months of April and May because of high-decibel sound coming from. 

This animal walks like a yak and eats grass like other animals. 

Its herd mixes with the yak almost every day. Because they are shy and innocuous, people do not kill or harm them. 

Although the meat of the Himalayan Marmot, a species of rat, is used for food in the neighboring country China, no one eats it in Nepal. 

Besides Nepal, it is found in abundance in China, India, and Pakistan.  

Tulsi Prasad Dahal, information officer of the Gourishankar Conservation Area Project, said that the animal is especially found in abundance in the grazing area.