KATHMANDU, FEBRUARY 23

The Nepali Army has had to bear the loss of its personnel in various disasters, including wildlife attacks at different times in the course of nature conservation.

At a press conference organised by the Nepal Army yesterday, it was reported that 114 people have lost their lives in various incidents since the establishment of the National Park, Wildlife and Hunting Reserves in the country.

Himanshu Thapa, chief of the National Parks and Wildlife Reserve Directorate of the Nepali Army, said the personnel were lost in avalanches in Rasuwa, Ramche or Langtang areas and attacks by tigers and rhinos, scorpion bites and snake bites. Recently, a soldier was killed in an attack by the wild elephant known as Dhruve in Chitwan.

Army personnel have been deployed in the field of nature conservation for four decades. It has been making special contribution to conservation of endangered animals and nature.

The military's contribution to wildlife and nature conservation has been highly praised by the international community.

Army personnel have been deployed at 12 national parks of the country, including Chitwan, Bardiya, Khaptad, Parsa, Rara, Langtang, Shivapuri, Sagarmatha, Banke, Makalu Barun, Shuklaphanta and Shey Phoksundo national parks, and Koshitappu Wildlife Reserve, Dhorpatan Hunting Reserve, and Annapurna Conservation Area in a bid to provide security. The army personnel have been patrolling the area roundthe-clock on foot or on bicycles, motorcycles and vehicles with the help of elephants and boats.

A total of 8,019 personnel, including eight battalions of the army and seven corps and one academy are currently deployed in 14 protected areas, national parks, wildlife reserves and hunting reserves spread in 33 districts of the country.

Meanwhile, the number of endangered tigers and rhinos has doubled in the past 10 years due to special contribution of the army for conservation of nature and wildlife. According to army personnel, the number of tigers in Nepal has increased from 121 in 2009 to 235 in the 2018 census.

Lately, army personnel have been engaged in mountain cleaning campaign in a bid to maintain the glory of Nepal's mountains.

This year too, army personnel continued the campaign to clean Mount Everest, Lhotse, Kanchenjunga and Manaslu. The next campaign will be conducted for a month from April 5.

A version of this article appears in the print on February 24, 2022, of The Himalayan Times.