Hunters kill 10 Naurs and 5 Jharals at Dhorpatan Hunting Reserve in first season

Licensed hunters have killed 10 Naurs (Himalayan blue sheep) and five Jharals (Himalayan Tahr) in the first season of hunting at Dhorpatan Hunting Reserve this year.

Altogether 12 foreign hunters had obtained permits for hunting 12 Naurs and eight Jharals and 11 wild boars in the country's only Hunting Reserve for this year.

The Reserve spans 1,325 square kilometers and adjoins Rukum, Myagdi and Baglung districts. It boasts of 1,290 Naurs and 744 Jharals as per the census in 2021.

According to the Dhorpatan Hunting Reserve Office in Baglung, one licensed hunter from America could not come for hunting and another American hunter could not hunt the Naur. Hunters obtaining permits for wild boars also could not knock down seven wild boars.

Pashupati Adhikari, Information Officer at the Reserve's Office, shared that the hunters from the USA, Spain, Netherlands and Mexico had obtained permission for the hunting for this season.

Permit was open for Nepali hunters for hunting wild boars but the Office did not receive any application from the Nepalis hunters this season, added Chandra Shekhar Chaudhary, Chief Conservation Officer at the Reserve.

The hunting season for this year has been over while the next one starts from March to May.

Hunters along with guides, representatives of the Reserve Office and Nepali Army spend 15 days at maximum in the Reserve that is divided into seven blocks for hunting.

It is said that a foreigner hunter spends around Rs 2 million to Rs 3 million for bidding the price of Naur and Jharal, making necessary arrangements such as license, bloc reserve, helicopters, guide and equipment for hunting etc.