ITAHARI, Feb 2: The Koshi Tappu Wildlife Reserve here is organising the tourism festival, aiming at bringing in 100 thousand tourists. The 11-day festival is scheduled to be inaugurated by Chief Minister of State-1 Sherdhan Rai, at Laukahi of Sunsari this afternoon.

Collaborating with country's only wildlife reserve, Koshi rural municipality is organising this festival in the sanctuary of wild buffaloes and numerous species of migratory birds.

Chairperson of Koshi municipality, Ayub Ansari, said the festival was conceptualized to ensure the footfall of 100 thousand domestic and international tourists combined. ''Last year the tourist flow in Koshi Tappu was around 23,000'', said Ansari, ''This festival aims to make the Reserve the top tourist draw in State 1.''

According to the organizers, the festival will have various recreational touristic activities like elephant safari, motor-boating and sighting of diverse species in the wildlife including fishing cat and wild buffaloes.

The budget for the festival is estimated to be around Rs. 5.5 million with the financial support of State 1 government, Nepal Tourism Board, Koshi Tappu Wildlife Reserve, National Sports Council and various local levels as well as other governmental and non-governmental organizations.

Koshi Tappu Wildlife Reserve, established in 1976 and spanned over 175 square kilometers of area from Sunsari, Saptari and Udayapur district, was declared the Ramsar site in 1986. According to the recent census, there are 419 wild buffaloes and 16,012 birds in this only conservation area located in eastern Terai of the country.

 
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