BAGLUNG, Dec 14: Although the Dhorpatan Hunting Reserve has allowed Nepali citizens to hunt wild boars from this season, no Nepali hunting enthusiast has visited the reserve for hunting so far.
The Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation had fixed 22 quotas of wild boars for hunting this season.
Chief Conservation Officer of Dhorpatan Hunting Reserve Birendra Prasad Kandel said that no one has arrived here for hunting although three hunting enthusiasts had participated in the tender bidding process.
“It might have taken more time due to procedural delay as this is the first time hunting of wild boars has been opened for Nepali nationals. Also, the information dissemination on boar hunting was not much circulated. Timely preparations and initiatives are necessary to attract Nepalis for boar hunting from upcoming season,” Kandel stated.
Hunting in the reserve is allowed for limited persons after a selection process through bidding.
Hunters arriving in Dhorpatan as hunting opens for this season
Likewise, hunting of Himalayan blue sheep (naur) and Himalayan Tahr (jharal) twice a year is allowed in the reserve.
Kandel shared that hunting of wild boars has been opened for Nepalis to promote internal tourism because hunting of Himalayan blue sheep and Himalayan Tahr is costly and Nepalis cannot afford it.
He also observed that systematic hunting of wild boar will result in harmonious relations between local residents and the reserve.
The wild boars destroy the farmers’ crops and hunting them would help control the population of wild boars to some extent.
“The State would also make revenue from legalized hunting,” according to the chief conservation officer.
Though the quota for hunting wild boars has been fixed at 22 this year, the number could be revised for the upcoming season, Kandel said.
This year, seven Himalayan blue sheep and five Himalayan Tahr were hunted, Information Officer of the reserve Abinash Thapa Magar said.
Four Americans, two Mexicans and a Canadian and a German hunted those animals, Thapa Magar added.
Dhorpatan is a popular destination for amateur and professional international hunting enthusiasts.
Spread in highlands and mountainous areas of Baglung, Myagdi and Rukum districts, this reserve is the only Wildlife Hunting Reserve in the country established four decades ago.
(RSS)
