NA begins campaign against poaching in CNP

Chitwan, December 30

The Nepal Army Shreejung Battalion, stationed at the Chitwan National Park, has launched a special anti-poaching campaign in the national park.

According to battalion chief Colonel Madhav Thapa, the campaign named ‘Operation Mahahunt’ was launched today.

Thapa said that the campaign’s objective is to help the national park achieve 1,000 days of zero poaching.

“As the time from November to June is sensitive, our campaign aims to prevent poaching during this time,” said Thapa, adding further, “We’ve been launching such operation every year for the past two years from January/February till May/June. This year we started the campaign early to help CNP achieve its target,” he added.

Meanwhile, this is the first time that the operation is being carried out in cooperation with the national park authority and the local community.

As part of the campaign, 100 army personnel from Bharatpur, Birgunj and Rautahat will be deployed in the park in five groups.

While three of the groups will patrol the park area, other two groups will set up camps in sensitive areas. Sniffer dogs will also be used.

Besides, awareness campaigns will also be conducted in places like Madi in Chitwan, Jagatpur, and Amaltari in Nawalparasi.

To support the campaign, an information network will be consolidated.

“Apart from this, 550 personnel will patrol 1500 km regularly to ensure safety of wild animals in the national park,” said Thapa.

According to CNP chief conservation officer RamchandraKandel, there are 10 CCTV cameras installed in sensitive sites.

“For more CCTV cameras, work on laying optical fibre cables along 52 km’s area is on,” he said, adding that ten drone cameras have also been employed for monitoring of possible illegal poaching activities in the national park.