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WILD MAMMALS OF THE SHUKLAPHANTA NATIONAL PARK LLAAXXMMAANN PPRRAASSAADD PPOOUUDDYYAALL BBAABBUU RRAAMM LLAAMMIICCHHHHAANNEE HHEEMM SSAAGGAARR BBAARRAALL HHAARRII BBAASSNNEETT WILD MAMMALS OF THE SHUKLAPHANTA NATIONAL PARK LAXMAN PRASAD POUDYAL BABU RAM LAMICHHANE HEM SAGAR BARAL HARI BASNET Shuklaphanta National Park & Himalayan Nature Published by Shuklaphanta National Park Office Kanchanpur, Nepal & Himalayan Nature PO Box 10918, Kathmandu, Nepal Copyright © 2020 Publishers and Authors All rights reserved. Any reproduction of this publication in full or in part must mention the title and credit the publishers and the authors. ISBN 978-9937-0-6865-9 Front Cover: Chungba Sherpa, Sagar Giri, Aashish Joshi Back Cover: Sagar Giri Preferred Citation Poudyal, L.P., Lamichhane, B.R., Baral, H.S., & Basnet, H. (2020). Wild Mammals of the Shuklaphanta National Park. Shuklaphanta National Park Office and Himalayan Nature, Kanchanpur and Kathmandu, Nepal. Design and layout: Calligrafic Design Studio Printed in Nepal CONTENTS INTRODUCTION 1 HABITATS 5 LIST OF MAMMALS OF THE PARK 9 REFERENCES FOR THE LIST OF MAMMALS 14 SPECIES ACCOUNT 15 PHOLIDOTA:Pangolins 16 EULIPOLYPHYLA:Shrews 24 CHIROPTERA:Bats 28 PRIMATES:Monkeys 38 CARNIVORA:Civets, Mongooses, Bears, Hyaenas, 44 Mustelids, Canids & Felids PROBOSCIDEA:Elephants 98 PERISSODACTYLA:Rhinoceros 104 ARTIODACTYLA:Pigs, Deer & Antelope 110 RODENTIA:Mice, Rats, Squirrels & Porcupines 136 LAGOMORPHA:Hares & Rabbits 166 BIBLIOGRAPHY 172 INDEX OF ENGLISH NAMES 191 INDEX OF SCIENTIFIC NAMES 192 i Photographs: Aashish Joshi, Aditya Chavan, Alen Jbo, Ambika Prasad Khatiwada, Ansil B. R., Babu Ram Lamichhane, Bharat Bandhu Thapa, Bijoy Venugopal, Chien C. Lee, Chiranjivi Khanal, Chungba Sherpa, Dhiraj Chaudhary, Friedrich Esser, Gyan Chandra Gyani, Hardik Patel, Hari Basnet, Indigo Taylor-Noguera, Janetand Phil, Kavi Raj Bohara, Kum Thakur, Laba Guragain, Laxman Prasad Poudyal, Markus Lilje, Md. Zaber Ansary, Narayan Rijal, Sagar Giri, Sanjay Tha Shrestha, Sarbjit Randhawa, Saroj Khadka, Sher Bahadur Pariyar, Sher Bahadur Singh, ShNP, SMCRF, Sunny Josef, Tashi Rapte Ghale, Tika Giri, Tulshi Laxmi Suwal, Utsab Jung Thapa, Vikram Tiwari, Yam Bahadur Rawat Maps:Hari Basnet (global and national species distribution maps), Umesh Paudel (park level species record maps) and Dr. Bhola Nath Dhakal (national park and buffer zone ward level map). Review:Tulsi Ram Subedi, PhD ii PREFACE Shuklaphanta National Park (ShNP) in south-western Nepal is an important habitat for many rare and threatened wildlife. It is a part of the transboundary Terai Arc Landscape that spans the lowlands of Nepal and India. The park is an important part of the Terai-Duar Savanna and Grasslands ecoregion and this vegetation covers 27% of its total area of this protected area. The park is famous for the largest herd of Barasingha in the world. Being an ecologically diverse area, several surveys focusing on different animals were carried out in the park since its establishment in 1976. Studies based on intensive camera trapping targeting tigers in recent decades have detected many rare wildlife, including several first records for Nepal. For instance, recent studies recorded Rusty-spotted Cat Prionailurus rubiginosus, Ruddy MongooseHerpestes smithii, Fishing CatPrionailurus viverrinus, Indian Flying FoxPteropus giganteus, Greater Short-nosed Fruit BatCynopterus sphinx, Greater Asiatic Yellow House Bat Scotophilus heathiiand Painted BatKerivoula pictain and the vicinity of the park; former two are being the first records for Nepal and remaining the first records for the park. However, there is a lack of comprehensive understanding on the total mammalian species of ShNP and their spatial distribution within the park. It is the first attempt to compile the mammalian species recorded in the park with detailed species accounts of 56 mammalian species. We believe a detailed species account will be a great asset for the park visitors, scientific communities, naturalists as well as anyone interested in the mammalian species. Furthermore, this initiation will provide a reference material for national park authorities for conserving the faunal diversity of the park. This will also inspire other parks to develop similar resources, which is lacking in most of the protected areas of Nepal. The checklist was compiled using both the primary records obtained through camera traps and review of the published records of mammalian species in the park. We reviewed published books and checklists of mammals. Wild Mammals of Nepal by Baral & Shah (2008), The Status of Nepal Mammals: The National Red List Series by Jnawali et al., (2011) and Enumeration of the Mammals of Nepal by Suwal & Verheugt (1995) were the primary references for this book. The systematic description of mammals is presented according to evolutionary development. Within species ecology, we followed the latest taxonomy for scientific and common names of species following the IUCN Red List of Threatened Category. Additionally, we have compiled the local name of each species as much as possible. Within each species account, we have provided global, national as well as distribution of species within ShNP, and prepared the global as well as national map of the species. Global range map of each species is extracted from the IUCN Red List site https://www.iucnredlist.org/ while the national map is based on the Status of Nepal Mammals: The National Red List Series by Jnawali et al., (2011) and authors' compilation of species distribution. iii We consulted many professionals as well as amateur photographers to get high quality photos. Photos taken within the ShNP are preferred; however a few photos taken other parts of Nepal or outside have been also used with credits to photographer. We are very much grateful to all the photographers for providing such excellent images. The photos are presented to illustrate the morphological characteristics of the species. Morphology, Ecology and Conservation Status of the species are based on published and peer reviewed literature. Shuklaphanta National Park offered us to write the manuscript. National Trust for Nature Conservation- Biodiversity Conservation Center, Chitwan provided space for two workshops each lasting three days. Chitwan workshops were held for initial and final compilation and editing. We would like to thank the Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation, National Trust for Nature Conservation and Himalayan Nature for their constant support and encouragement. We would like to thank Ashok Kumar Ram, Rishi Ranabhat, Sanjan Thapa, Bishnu Prasad Pandey, Dr. Naresh Subedi, Dr. Rabin Kadariya and Tulshi Laxmi Suwal for their contributions in the manuscript for some species. We have put our best efforts in giving this book a pleasant look and as much as informative. This is the property of far west Nepal. We are very much thankful to former DFO Ramesh Chand, Chair of the Hotel Association of Kanchanpur district Pramanand Bhandari, Bufferzone Committees, Bhimdutta and other peripheral municipalities, Devidal Battalion of Nepali Army, park staff and local people for their support. We look forward to your constructive suggestions for the next edition. Laxman Prasad Poudyal Babu Ram Lamichhane Hem Sagar Baral Hari Basnet 17 May 2020 iv INTRODUCTION Background The Shuklaphanta National Park (ShNP) is situated at the southwestern corner of Nepal in Kanchanpur district of Sudurpaschim Province. It lies between 28º 45' 47” - 29º 02’ 52” N latitudes and 80º 05’ 45” - 80º 21’ 43” E longitudes. The altitude ranges from 175 – 1300 m above sea level. It lies at the middle of the transboundary Terai Arc Landscape which extends from Bagmati River in the east to Yamuna River in the west covering 14 protected areas of India and Nepal (Chanchani et al., 2014). Historically, the grasslands and forests of Shuklaphanta were famous hunting spots for royalties of Nepal and their distinguished guests. It was declared as Royal Hunting Forest with an area of 131 km2in 1969 (Yadavet al., 2000). Later it was promulgated as the Royal Shuklaphanta Wildlife Reserve in 1976 covering an area of 155 km2and extended to the present size of 305 km2in 1994. The area of 243.5 km2surrounding the reserve was declared as buffer zone in 2004 to bring local people in conservation mainstream and support their development needs. The Reserve’s status was changed as Shuklaphanta National Park in 2017. This protected area is named after the largest grassland of lowland Nepal, theShuklaphanta,which is home to the largest herd of the Swamp DeerRucervus duvauceliiduvauceliiin the world. Swamp Deer herd at Shuklaphanta, Photo: Bharat Bandhu Thapa 1 Poudyal, L.P., Lamichhane, B.R., Baral, H.S., & Basnet, H. (2020). Wild Mammals of the Shuklaphanta National Park. Shuklaphanta National Park Office and Himalayan Nature, Kanchanpur and Kathmandu, Nepal. Shuklaphanta National Park and Buffer Zone: A Fact Sheet Location District: Kanchanpur; Province: Sudurpaschim Park boundary North: Siwalik ridge (Dadeldhura District boundary) South: Nepal India Border East: Syali River West: Mahakali River History 1969 – Royal Hunting Forest, Area: 131 km2 1976 – Royal Shuklaphanta Wildlife Reserve, Area: 155 km2 (19 July 1976) 1994 – Area extension (East from Chaudhar River) 150 km2 (23 May 1994) 2004 – Buffer Zone declared, Area: 243.5 km2(22 May 2004) 2017 – Status Changed to National Park (20 February 2017) IUCN Protected Area II - National Park; and VI - Buffer Zone Category Area National Park - 305 km2; and Buffer Zone - 243.5 km2 Physiographic Terai & Siwaliks Zones Altitude range 175 - 1300 m Latitude 28º 45' 47” - 29º 02’ 52” N Longitude 80º 05’ 45” - 80º 21’ 43” E Floral Diversity 118 Family; 665 Species Faunal Diversity Mammals 56 Birds 450 Reptiles 56 Amphibians 15 Fish 24 Buffer zone Municipals: 7; Buffer Zone User Committees: 9; Community Forests: 42 The park is connected to Dudhwa National Park, India towards southeast via Laljhadi forest corridor and Nandhaur Wildlife Sanctuary, India towards northwest via Boom-Brahmadev forest corridor and Mahakali River. 2 Poudyal, L.P., Lamichhane, B.R., Baral, H.S., & Basnet, H. (2020). Wild Mammals of the Shuklaphanta National Park. Shuklaphanta National Park Office and Himalayan Nature, Kanchanpur and Kathmandu, Nepal.