Blue sheep protected from hunters in Nepal

The KCA authority ran a 3 years study to prepare this proposal to open two blocks of KCA for hunting of blue sheep. The report was prepared with active participation of the Director General of Nepali Department of National Park and Wildlife Conservation (DNPWC) and sent to the relevant Ministry.

However the request was rejected by the ministry for the following reasons:

• 1) This animal does not harm people 
• 2) The killing of this animal affects the existence of snow leopards 
• 3) This animal does not destroy crops and 
• 4) If approved, other conservation areas may demand the same.

Kanchenjunga Conservation Area Authority said that the decision taken by the Ministry was not right. Their study was conducted for three years and concluded that 30 to 35 blue sheep could be hunted yearly. He said that during the research Director of DNPWC Shyam Bajimaya, Conservation Officer Buddhi Sagar Paudel and Kamal Thapa of WWF Nepal were also present. The KCA council which is managed by the people had made tourism development and blue sheep hunting as means of sustainable development.

Courtesy of the Wildlife Watch Group Nepal