Dodhara Chandani (Kanchanpur), 22 February: Free nature guides have been provided to tourists visiting Shuklaphanta National Park in Kanchanpur.
The Shuklaphanta Tourism Festival organized by Bhimdatta Municipality from Friday has provided free nature guides to tourists visiting the park throughout the festival period. The Shuklaphanta Tourism Festival has been organized at Shuklaphanta National Park from Friday to 15th to mark the establishment day of Shuklaphanta National Park.
Rajendra KC, coordinator of Bhimdatta Municipal Tourism Development Committee, informed that the municipality has organized a tourism festival to attract tourists to the park. He said that the festival was organized to promote Shuklaphanta as it is an attractive destination for tourists. “Free nature guides have been arranged for tourists visiting the park during the week-long festival.” He said, “As an incentive to tourists, the first 100 vehicles (private and safari) have been made free.” He said that arrangements have been made to support the nature guide and safari fees by Shuklaphanta National Park.
Tourism professionals say that Shuklaphanta is an attractive destination for tourists to enjoy nature, so emphasis should be placed on its promotion. “It is necessary to promote it at the national and international level to attract domestic and foreign tourists,” said Ramchandra Regmi, president of the Hotel Entrepreneurs Association, Kanchanpur. “Although there is initiative from the private sector at the local level, the government should take the initiative to attract foreign tourists.”
He said that the festival is expected to help promote Shuklaphanta, which is home to rare animals in the world, and develop it as a destination for domestic and foreign tourists. Shuklaphanta National Park Mahananda Joshi said that although Shuklaphanta is an attractive destination for tourists, the number of tourists is low due to lack of promotion. “There is a large grassland (field) of Shuklaphanta 24 km from the entrance of Shuklaphanta National Park. In which field, a herd of hundreds of buffaloes can be seen at once,” he said, “It is a famous place not only for wildlife but also for rare plants here.” He said that 56 species of mammals, 56 species of reptiles, 15 species of amphibians, 88 species of fish, and 111 species of butterflies are found in the park.
According to him, Shuklaphanta is also home to wild animals considered rare in the world, such as the stork, the black partridge, the kingfisher, and the lesser spotted hyena. These include the leopard, one-horned rhinoceros, the elephant, the black rhinoceros, the salak, the nilgai, the leopard, the langur, the ratuwa, the hispid hare, and the wild boar.
Spread over an area of 305 square kilometers, Shuklaphanta National Park is famous for its rhinoceros. There are more than 2,200 rhinos in the park. Tourists who visit here can see a large herd of rhinoceros. Similarly, there are 25 wild elephants, 16 one-horned rhinos, and 42 leopards.
“The park is also characterized by the world’s largest grassland. 19 percent of the park is grassland,” said Joshi. “Mammals like wild elephants, leopards, leopards, deer, and chital are the main wildlife of this park, while Magar crocodiles are found in abundance in Rani Lake and other small lakes.” According to him, more than 461 species of birds, both native and migratory, are found. There is an elephant sanctuary in Pipariya, a village in Shuklaphanta. Elephant rides are available there. There is also a facility for elephant safaris depending on the time of the visitor. He said that the week-long festival will also include cleanliness drives, essay competitions, and interactions with tourism entrepreneurs and travel agents from Nepal and India.
