KATHMANDU — In the village of Pithauli, on the edge of Nepal’s Chitwan National Park, a safe feeding site for critically endangered vultures has long been hailed as a success story by conservationists. For visitors, the feeding site, also known as a “vulture restaurant”, provides a rare photo op for tourists: As white-rumped vultures (Gyps bengalensis) and slender-billed vultures (Gyps tenuirostris) feed on carcasses laid out by locals, greater one-horned rhinos, jackals, wild boars and crows watch and, sometimes, participate. For ornithologist Rajendra Suwal, however, this ensemble is an eyesore, he told Mongabay, “If an infected bird comes to the site, the disease could spread to other birds or even animals.”. Suwal’s concern stems from a recent outbreak of bird flu or avian influenza in the country’s capital. An outbreak that started in mid-June at Kathmandu’s Central Zoo is believed to have cost the lives of at least 65 animals and birds across more than 20 species. The dead included barn owls, Himalayan griffons, greylag geese, jungle cats, leopard cats, a sarus crane and two common leopards. An investigation by the National Trust for Nature Conservation (NTNC), which manages the zoo, says the origin of the outbreak could likely be traced to two sources: Among birds, it likely started through feral crows roosting in open-topped aviary enclosures, while for carnivores, it spread through chicken meat fed to them by the zoo. A sarus crane (Antigone antigone) at the Central Zoo in Kathmandu. Image by Shadow Ayush via Wikimedia Commons (CC…This article was originally published on Mongabay

KATHMANDU — Nepal is now home to an estimated 429 wild tigers, up from 355 four years ago and nearly four-fold from 16 years ago, the country’s conservation officials reported on the occasion of World Tiger Day. As the country celebrates this historic achievement, a closer look at the latest numbers reveals an uneven recovery. Nepal’s youngest national parks are driving nearly all the growth, while Bardiya, the country’s second-oldest park, has fewer tigers. This could lead to more conflict between not just people and tigers, but people and leopards as well in and around the new national parks, according to recent studies. Three factors appear to be behind this split: water availability, animal movement both within and outside the country, and spread of invasive species. “The results from the survey reflect the positive outcomes of ongoing efforts in the field of tiger conservation in Nepal, such as habitat conservation and management, poaching control, conservation of prey species, and biological corridor conservation,” said Bed Kumar Dhakal, spokesperson for the Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation. Chitwan, the country’s oldest national park, still leads by far in raw numbers. But the newer parks (Banke, Parsa and Shuklaphanta) are where growth is concentrated, while the country’s two oldest parks, Chitwan and Bardiya, are showing the slowest growth or an outright decline.   This graph shows changes in tiger population in different national parks in Nepal. Image courtesy of DNPWC/Nepal. The numbers are rooted in a global pledge made in November 2010.…This article was originally published on Mongabay

KATHMANDU — Rodney Jackson pioneered the radio-tracking study of snow leopards in Nepal’s Langu Valley in the early 1980s and has, since then, worked across the species’ range from Ladakh to Mongolia to the Pakistani Karakoram ranges. In 1981, he founded the nonprofit Snow Leopard Conservancy (SLC), which focuses on community-based conservation approaches in high mountain landscapes of Asia. Jackson, who holds a doctorate from the University of London, was featured on the cover of National Geographic in 1986 and remains one of the most cited researchers in snow leopard (Panthera uncia) science. After retiring in 2022, Jackson serves as the president of the conservancy’s board of directors, where he works in refining strategic approach and impact, mentoring the next generation of conservationists, and special projects. Jackson spoke with Mongabay — the third time, following interviews in 2008 and 2015 — on the sidelines of Society of Conservation Biologists Congress in Kathmandu, Nepal. Talking to Mongabay’s Abhaya Raj Joshi, Jackson discusses the state of population monitoring technology, the persistent challenge of human-wildlife conflict in mountain communities, and what he describes as a long-standing failure to center the needs of herding families who bear the direct costs of living alongside the species. He also reflects on the lack of collaboration between the two main international snow leopard organizations, and on what he sees as the field’s continued overinvestment in science at the expense of practical community support. Jackson holds up awareness material. Image courtesy of Anil Adhikari. This interview has been…This article was originally published on Mongabay

KATHMANDU — Nepal’s ambitious efforts to establish a viable population of the vulnerable greater one-horned rhinoceros in western Nepal’s Bardiya National Park 40 years ago has been seen as a conservation success. The park, which didn’t have a surviving population until the 1980s, is now home to 38 individuals, as per recent census. But a new study shows that the translocated animals are wandering far outside their release zones in search of food and water, suggesting the habitat may not be healthy enough to keep them there. Researchers, who GPS collared five of the eight animals translocated from Chitwan in central Nepal in 2016-17, found that the larger home range of the reintroduced rhinos (Rhinoceros unicornis) in Babai Valley (one of the two habitats, the other one being the banks of Karnali River) of Bardiya National Park was primarily due to limited grassland, fragmented riverine forests and seasonal scarcity of water and forage. “Habitat degradation from floods further reduced suitability, forcing rhinos to range widely,” the study said. “Given the small population size and fragmented habitat, Babai Valley may not support a viable rhino population without significant habitat restoration, addition of individuals, or relocation to more suitable sites.” Greater one-horned rhinos in Chitwan, Nepal. Image by Aditya Pal via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0). Once confined to Chitwan National Park — the heartland of Nepal’s rhino population — a smaller number of animals were relocated to Bardiya and Shuklaphanta national parks in the late 1980s to expand their range. But…This article was originally published on Mongabay

SARLAHI, Nepal — Dhruba Prasai, a farmer from Sarlahi district in Nepal’s southern plains, says he’s exhausted from lack of sleep. Every year, nilgai antelopes, wild boars, deer and Asian elephants raid his fields, and if left unguarded at night, they not only feed on standing crops, but also stored harvest. “There is a forest to the west, and our fields are right next to it,” Prasai tells Mongabay. “The nilgai eat the maize, and the deer can’t even stand the sight of wheat and oat grass, they eat it all. If people stay up at night to guard the fields, they run away; otherwise, they come and destroy everything.” Farmers such as Prasai across Madhesh province, considered the country’s breadbasket because of its fertile land, are struggling with growing crop losses from wildlife, but complex procedures and policy gaps make access to relief, which is already limited, difficult. From mid-July 2024 to mid-July 2025, 14,821 cases of ‘human wildlife conflict’ were reported in Madhesh, according to government figures. A total of 134 people and 457 animals lost their lives. Last year, a wild boar ate three tand (storage racks) of maize stored in Prasai’s house. Although forest authorities told him to get a recommendation letter from the local municipal ward office to apply for relief, he didn’t do it. “I haven’t done it; we simply don’t have the time,” he says. Even those who did fill out the forms around the same time have yet to receive relief, he…This article was originally published on Mongabay