Ever thought of seeing Royal Bengal Tigers in Shey Phoksundo or Rara National Parks? Not exactly. But if recent findings of Bhutanese wildlife experts are anything to go by, one could encounter these big cats in these high altitude protected areas as well. Contrary to the common belief that Royal Bengal Tigers (Panthera tigris tigris) live below 2,600 meters above sea level, scientists at the Nature Conservation Division (NCD) of Ministry of Agriculture of Bhutan, have recorded movements of these mighty cats well above 3,000 meters. A news posted on the website of the Bhutanese weekly, Kuensel, Wednesday claimed. Experts say that Royal Bengal Tigers found only in Nepal, India, Bangladesh and Bhutan, prefer tropical (400-1800 masl) and sub-tropical (1,800-2,500 masl) environments as their habitat, and seldom go beyond 2,600 masl.


However, the Bhutanese NCD survey team, encountered the remains of two horses, one cow and two mithun breed cows near a ridge between Thimphu in the west and Punakha in the north-west. This place, at an altitude of 3,400 masl, is three hours' walk above Dodeyna, which is about 15 kilometers from Thimphu, Bhutan's capital. The nature of the kill, especially the large canine marks on the livestock's necks and pugmarks on the soil show that the kill was made by Royal Bengal Tigers. The NCD team confirmed that four tigers - a male and a female with two cubs - live in the area. "This is the first time in Bhutan that solid evidences have been collected of the movement of tigers above 3000 meters," Dr Sangay Wangchuk, joint director of NCD who is also a member of the survey team, is quoted to have said. Meanwhile, Dr Latika Nath Rana, wildlife biologist, who has years of experience in the ecology and behavior of Royal Bengal Tigers in India and Nepal says, that tigers have been "occasionally" sighted beyond their normal habitat range. Citing literatures Rana said, "Tigers have occasionally been sighted at 4,000 meters altitude in the Eastern Himalayas." She believes that lack of prey species and human induced or other disturbances in their preferred normal habitat may lead these wild beasts to wander to higher altitudes. While such "abnormal behavior" reported in hundreds of wildlife species around the world has been attributed to climate change. Scientific studies have confirmed that polar bears are moving away from their natural habitat due to climate change. In such a context, is this behavior of tigers the result of climate change? Ruling out such possibility as for now, Rana asserts, "It's a far-fetched idea."

OTHER NEWS

• PM Deuba assures of industrial security: Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba on Friday urged the Indian business community to disregard negative headlines going out of Nepal and begin new joint venture projects in Nepal. Some areas for such investments, he said, are infrastructure and hydropower development, agro-based industries and tourism, in addition to food processing and manufacturing of light engineering products. "Nepal offers an ideal destination for investment particularly in infrastructure development," he said. "There is immense potential for investment in the development of hydroelectricity in Nepal. Water holds and important key to our mutual prosperity."
  
  
• India pledges every possible help to Nepal: India on Thursday pledged continued support - "military and otherwise" - to Nepal in its fight against Maoist insurgents, as the two neighbors entered into at least three new bilateral accords, which diplomats here hope will further strengthen the age-old ties between the two neighbors. On the second day of the five-day-long working visit of the Nepali official delegation led by Sher Bahadur Deuba, the two neighbors on Thursday agreed to increase cultural exchanges, share Indian satellite weather forecasting system, and lay a petroleum pipeline between Raxaul in Bihar and Amlekhgunj in southern Nepal.
  
  
• Air Nepal to go international: Air Nepal International (ANI) is to operate international flights, specifically to Dubai and Malaysia from November this year. "After the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) renewed our airline operating certificate (AOC) last week, we are preparing to launch services in international sectors," said Pradeep Shamsher Rana, Chairman of ANI. He said that they were preparing to bring in Airbus A320 with 156 passenger capacity and BA 146.
  
  
• Airlines to impose fuel surcharge: Price of air-ticket is going to be more expensive from this Friday, as domestic airlines have decided to impose Rs 4.20 fuel surcharge per passenger for a minute-distance, citing recent hike in air-fuel price. As per the decision, ticket price on the domestic sectors will be hiked by Rs 80 to Rs 400, depending on the distances. Airfare for Bharatpur will rise by Rs 40 per ticket and for Dhangadhi by Rs 400 per ticket. However, expressing unawareness about the decision, an official at the Ministry of Culture, Civil Aviation and Tourism (MoCCAT) told the Post that the government has not, so far, decided to allow the airlines to impose the fuel surcharge.
  
  
• Tourist arrivals up by 3%: Tourism industry, despite a weeklong Maoist-imposed blockade in the Kathmandu Valley and indefinite closure of the leading five-star hotel, posted a marginal growth of three percent in tourist arrivals last month. According to statistics released by Nepal Tourism Board (NTB), the number of tourists coming into the country stood at 22,331 during the month, up from 21,572 the corresponding month last year. The industry witnessed a growth of 17 percent in the arrivals of tourist from the third countries. A total of 16,351 tourists, from the third countries, visited the country during the last month as compared to 13,962 visitors same month last year.
  
  
  

By Hari Shrestha, Resident Representative in Kathmandu