DHORPATAN (BAGLUNG), March 30: The second hunting season of this year has begun in Dhorpatan, the only hunting reserve in Nepal. In the second season, 35 wild animals including 13 Pseudois nayaur, Bharal (himalayan blue sheep), 10 Jharal (himalayan thar) and 12 wild boars are going to be hunted.
The Department of Wildlife and National Parks had called for bids for hunting in early February.
Six companies, including Himalayan Wildlife Outfits Pvt. Ltd., Tracks and Trails Pvt. Ltd., Himalayan Safaris Pvt. Ltd., Global Safaris Nepal, Nepal Travel Expeditions and Open Nepal Wildlife Safaris, have received permission to hunt in the second season.
Hunting season begins at Dhorpatan Hunting Reserve
Meanwhile, hunters who have received permission from the Department have started arriving to hunt in various blocks of the Dhorpatan Hunting Reserve.
Ranger Sagar Subedi of the Reserve Office shared that for the second season hunters will be allowed to hunt until the end of April. He said that only two Pseudois nayaur have been hunted so far. One of the Naur was hunted by 70-year-old Marcos Olaizola Alcorta from Spain in the Sundaha block.
Hunters from the US, Argentina, Spain and France have come for this hunting season. The price for the permit to hunt the wild animals in the reserve range between Rs. 800,000 to Rs. 625,500 per animal.
Chief Conservation Officer of Dhorpatan Hunting Reserve, Chandrashekhar Chaudhary. said that Rs. 12.6 million in revenue has been collected in the second season.
Hunting is open in Dhorpatan in two seasons every year. The first season falls in Asoj-Mangsir and the second in Falgun-Baishakh in the lunar calendar.