Siberian weasel officially recorded in Jajarkot

By Sahadev Basnet,Jajarkot, July 23: Siberian weasel, known as Siberian Malsapro in Nepali, has been officially recorded for the first time in Jajarkot district. 

The finding was published in a Nepali Journal of Zoology, a scientific journal regularly released by the Central Department of Zoology, Tribhuvan University.

According to Badri Baral, programme coordinator at Nature Conservation Campaign Nepal, camera traps placed in the forests of Nalagad Municipality, Barekot Rural Municipality and Kushe Rural Municipality captured images of the Siberian weasels.

Baral said that the Siberian weasel belongs to the mustelid family, and out of the 13 mustelid species recorded in the country so far, four have now been confirmed in Jajarkot based on the latest research.

The research team, led by Badri Baral, included Deepak Raj Basnet, Jeevan Rai and local participants such as Jagriti Shahi and Dinesh Basnet from Kushe Rural Municipality, Govinda Bahadur Singh from Barekot and Dhirendra Dhiyar from Nalagad Municipality.

Together, they used camera traps to survey local wildlife, which led to the successful documentation of the Siberian weasel.

Until now, the Siberian weasel had been recorded in Gaurishankar Conservation Area, Langtang National Park, Dhorpatan Hunting Reserve, Api-Nampa Conservation Area, Annapurna Conservation Area, Manaslu Conservation Area and Makalu Barun National Park. Outside the protected areas, it had also been found in Humla and Mugu districts.

With the publication of the research article in the Nepali Journal of Zoology by the Central Department of Zoology, Tribhuvan University, the presence of the Siberian weasel in Jajarkot has now been officially recognised for the first time.