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Nepal is a land of extreme contrasts in climate and geography,
It has a unique topography ranging from lowlands with sub-tropical
jungles to arctic conditions in the Himalayan highlands.
Within a mere 150 kilometers the land rises from near sea level
in the south to over 8,000 meters in the North. This, together
with the monsoon rainfall along the south facing slopes, has
resulted in compacting virtually all climate zones found on
planet Earth. As a result, Nepal has been endowed with a great
diversity of life-zones providing a home for a large variety
of plants, birds and animals.
The
Terai lowlands are defined by a belt of well-watered floodplains
stretching from Th. Indian border northward to the first slopes
of the Bhabhar and the Siwalik Range. This is the richest habitat
in the land with tall grasslands interspersed with riverine
and hardwood sal forest . Here one can see wildlife such as
the swamp deer, musk deer, black buck, blue bull, the royal
Bengal tiger, gharial and mugger crocodiles, and the last of
a breed of Asiatic wild buffalo. This area is also rich in birdlike
with a variety of babbles and orioles, koels and drongos, peacocks
and floricans, and a multitude of wintering wildfowl. There
are five protected areas in Nepal-Koshi Tappu and Parsa in the
east, Sukla Phanta and Dhorpatan for hunting in the west and
Shivapuri in the. mid-mountain region. The Churia, also known
as the. siwalik, is the southern most range of the Himalaya.
No where do they rise above 1,220 meters, This range is famous
for fossil deposits of Pleistocene mammals, among them 10 species
of elephants, 6 rhinoceros, hippopotamus, saber-toothed cats,
various antelopes and primates such as the orang-utan, long
extinct in the subcontinent, Situated north of the Churia are
broad, low valleys of the inner Terai know as the Doons. These
valleys are not unlike the outer plains with tall elephant grass,
swamps and ox-bow lakes where the last of the one-homed rhinoceros
survive, Royal Chitwan National Park in the Inner Terai of central
Nepal is the first and best protected area s in the kingdom.
Once one of the most famous big game hunting areas in Asia.
Chitwan now offers protection to a large array of mammals such
as the. one-horned rhinoceros, tiger, leopard, sloth bear and
the gaur (wild bison) as well as more than 400 species of birds.
Higher
in the north between 2,000 and 3,500 meters lies the Mahabharat
Range with its oak crowned crests.
The hills of this midland are covered by a moist temperate forest
of deodar, oak, maple and birch in which are found deer, ghoral
serow, leopard and monkey, The gorgeous multi-colored lmpeyan
pheasant (Nepal's national bird) is also found here with other
endangered birds like the koklas and Cheer Pheasants. Protected
areas in this zone include Khapted National Park in the Far-West,
Dhorpatan Hunting reserve, Northwest of Pokhara and Shivapuri
Wildlife Sanctuary near Kathmandu.
Higher
still, nearer the snowline, are the alpine mountain flanks which
are the haunt of snow leopard, which preys on blue sheep and
the. Himalayan tahr, Rarely seen are the wolf. black and brown
bears and lynx. The Sherpas, Manabga, and Dolpa-bas are some
of those who farm and graze their livestock on the high mountain
pastures. Langtang, Sagarmatha (Everest). Shey-Phoksundo and
Rara National Parks are the protected high altitude areas of
Nepal.
His
Majesty's Government of Nepal has set aside more than 13,000
sq.kms of protected areas that include as many bio geographic
regions as possible to assure conservation of the maximum numbers
of wildlife species. These nature sanctuaries attract wildlife
enthusiasts and tourists from the world, over, and each park
and reserve has its own attraction.
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