Wildlife assessment of the Chandragiri hills, Kathmandu: Potentiality for ecotourism

Wildlife assessments can provide crucial information regarding species richness, relative abundance and spatial, temporal, and ecological information on wildlife habitat associations. The assessment’s information can in turn be used for developing management policies including for establishing touri...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Hem Bahadur Katuwal, Hari Basent, Hari Prasad Sharma, Sabina Koirala, Bhaiya Khanal, Kaustuv Raj Neupane, Kul Bhadur Thapa, Dibas Babu Panta, Kanchan Parajuli, Sandesh Lamichhane, Mangkal Rai, Tejab Pun, Shruti Shakya, Suraj Baral
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: University of Kansas Libraries 2020-08-01
Series:European Journal of Ecology
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Online Access:https://journals.ku.edu/EuroJEcol/article/view/13520
Description
Summary:Wildlife assessments can provide crucial information regarding species richness, relative abundance and spatial, temporal, and ecological information on wildlife habitat associations. The assessment’s information can in turn be used for developing management policies including for establishing touristic zones. We investigated wildlife occurrences in the Chandragiri Hills, Kathmandu Nepal from 2015-2019 to provide baseline data to inform the potential sites for ecotourism. During the study period, we recorded 30 mammal species, 199 bird species, 34 herpetofauna species and 77 butterfly species. The area harbors three globally and six nationally threatened mammal species, two globally and seven nationally threatened with one endemic bird species, one globally and nationally threatened herpetofauna, and one nationally threatened butterfly species. We also explored four potential hiking routes for observing wildlife and providing scenic views of the Himalayan range and Kathmandu city. Therefore, we expect Chandragiri Hills can become one of the hot spot for tourists to observe both common and threatened wildlife species in Nepal.
ISSN:1339-8474