Rare wildlife spotted in Makalu Barun Park

SANKHUWASBHA: Golden cat, a rare wildlife, has been spotted for the first time inside Makalu Barun National Park, for the first time. The park spreads over Solukhumbu and Sankhuwasabha districts.

Earlier, the reports by International Union for Nature Conservation (IUCN) in 2001 had mentioned that the ‘golden cat’ would not be found at the park. But it has been spotted in Maghantar forest, in the park recently.

Challenging the claims of IUCN, Friends of Nature, had begun its search Yadav Ghimire and Prabhat Pal of the organisation claim that they have spotted the cat.

After searching for five months, the duo announced their findings at a programme here on Tuesday. According to Ghimire, the cat was spotted at

2,517 meters. They spotted the cat with the help of a camera installed

in the forest, said Pal.

Meanwhile, Gopal Bhattarai,

conservation officer at the park,

said that the habitat, food and the climate of the park was suitable for

the cat. The golden cat, a developed species of cats, is of golden colour and weighs 8 to 12 kilograms.