The number of blackbuck in Shuklaphanta National Park is increasing
Rare blackbucks in Shuklaphanta National Park of Kanchanpur have reached 306. Over the past 13 years, the number has sevenfold increased. In 2012, 42 blackbucks were released, and 45 fawns are under one year old. Blackbucks were first observed in Haripur in the 1960s, and in 2015, 14 more were relocated from Khairapur to Shuklaphanta, confirming their survival in the area. The Haripur grassland in the park now houses more blackbucks than the Khairapur Blackbuck Conservation Area, despite the expansion of the habitat to 58.8 hectares through fencing. Discussions are underway to release blackbucks into the national park’s natural habitat and a municipality has proposed managing them for tourism purposes. Wagle, the information officer, stated that the procedure of managing some blackbucks in other sites will proceed if the department makes a decision.
In Nepal, blackbucks were thought to have gone extinct in the 1970s. However, attempts to protect and enhance the number of blackbucks through translocation started in 1975 after they were found in Khairapur in Bardiya. A total of 16 blackbucks were relocated to Bardiya National Park’s Baghaura Phanta between 1977 and 1989. Four more were moved there between 1985 and 1988, and another 26 were moved there in 1992. None of them are said to have survived there, though. The Gulariya Municipality of Bardiya designated 16.96 hectares as a Blackbuck Conservation Area in 2009, and conservation work has continued there ever since.
