Kathmandu, Oct 19: The first season for licensed hunting of Naur, Jharal and Boar in the country's only Dhorpatan hunting reserve has begun.
The Department of National Parks
and Wildlife Conservation has given permission for hunting 12 Naur or Himalayan
blue sheep, eight Jharal or Himalayan Tahr and 11 wild boars for this
season.
An Australian citizen under the
Nepal Travel Expedition Company has hunted a Naur to kick off the hunting to be
carried out by four companies permitted to hunt in the reserve this
season.
According to the senior management officer of
the reserve, Pemba Sherpa, 12 foreign hunters have obtained hunting permits through
the four companies this year. The department determines the minimum fee for
hunting, which is Rs 150,000 for a Naur, 75,000 for a Jharal and Rs. 10,000 for
a wild boar.
Companies get hunting permits by bidding more
than the minimum fee. For this season, the highest bid of Rs. 1.2 million was
received for a Naur and Rs. 725,000 for a Jharal.
According to Birendra Prasad Kandel, Senior
Conservation Officer of the Reserve Office, the census in 2021 showed the
number of Naur at 1,290 and the number of Jharal at 744.
Established in the year 2044 BS,
the reserve is spread in an area of 1325 square kilometers. It is home to 32
species of mammals and 164 species of birds . (RSS)