The Rufford Foundation

Final Report

Congratulations on the completion of your project that was supported by The

Rufford Foundation.

We ask all grant recipients to complete a Final Report Form that helps us to

gauge the success of our grant giving. The Final Report must be sent in word

format and not PDF format or any other format. We understand that projects

often do not follow the predicted course but knowledge of your experiences

is valuable to us and others who may be undertaking similar work. Please be

as honest as you can in answering the questions – remember that negative

experiences are just as valuable as positive ones if they help others to learn

from them.

Please complete the form in English and be as clear and concise as you can.

Please note that the information may be edited for clarity. We will ask for

further information if required. If you have any other materials produced by

the project, particularly a few relevant photographs, please send these to us

separately.

Please submit your final report to jane@rufford.org.

Thank you for your help.

Josh Cole, Grants Director

Grant Recipient Details

Your name Basant Sharma

Project title “Bats Survey and Conservation Outreach

Programs along Kaligandaki Canyon, Nepal”

RSG reference 22605-1

Reporting period July 2017 to July 2018

Amount of grant 4995

Your email address b.s.sharma237@gmail.com

Date of this report 4th July 2018

1. Please indicate the level of achievement of the project’s original objectives and

include any relevant comments on factors affecting this.

Objective

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Comments

1) To explore the bat

habitats and their

conditions

Four major habitat types were

identified in the landscape; cave,

forest land, Agro-forest land and

urbanized/rural settlements. Among

all of them cave has highest bat

species diversity as well as highly

threatened. Caves (Gupteshore,

Alpeshore laleshore and Parbati) with

long tunnels, high roofs and stony

structures formed by the series of

sedimentation process were

principally used for religious tourism.

Cave modification, construction of

temples, worshipping stony structures

with smokes, imparting electrical wires

and pollution outside the cave were

major threats to cave dwelling bats.

Landslide occurred Due to

unmanaged vehicle road

construction and turbulent flow of

Kaligandaki river and forest fire were

found to be major threats to tree

dwelling forest bats. Lack of

knowledge about bats with

superstition belives and killing bat for

medicinal purpose in Kopchepani in

Myagdi were major threats prevailing

in Agro-forest land and rural

settlements.

2) To identify bat

species richness in the

landscape

Altogether 16 species were recorded

during the project period from

Kushma, Parbat (810m a.s.l) to

Jomsom, Mustang (2,800m a.s.l)

covering nearly 100km along the

Kaligandaki river. We used only

trapping methods (mist nets and harp

trap) for the survey. Harp trap well

function in cave entrances whereas

mist net trapped the bats (Fruits and

insectivorous) that forage under tree

canopy. Bats that forage above the

tree canopy, open lands and

agricultural land farms found to be

very difficult to capture. Some bats

even detected the position of mist

nets/harp trap and diverted their flight

to escape the capture. Hence, study

site still has high potential to boost bat

species richness.

3) aware school

children, locals about

bats and their habitats

Out of 20 discovered caves, 13 were

found to host habitat for bats. 5 caves

with more than 2 species in each and

highly threatened by anthropogenic

activities were prioritized for

conservation awareness camps.

Villages, locals and secondary school

nearby these caves were selected for

awareness. School teaching, poster

distribution, interaction with teachers,

local group (aama samuha) and

cave management committee

(CMC) were done effectively to

aware them about ecological roles of

bats.

4) Generate skilled

manpower and help

them engage in

regular monitoring and

conservation practices

Project aimed to create skilled

manpower in the landscape.

However, scenario of landscape is

quite different than we assumed. Most

of the young people were on city

areas for higher studies. Remaining

young people were too busy on their

work as they have to look after the

family. We do engage few young

individuals to look after bat activity

and explore additional bat habitats

nearby their residents. We provided

them necessary knowledge and

techniques for observation. Two caves

near Baglung city were discovered

and Bat activity in Boksikhola,

Mustang and colony of Hipposiderous

armiger in Malluwa oodar of

Ranipauwa, Myagdi has been

continuously monitored by them.

5) Create “Eco-clubs”

for long term

conservation

Caves (5) with highest bat species

richness i.e. valuable and threatened

were already managed by CMC. IF

we created an “Eco-club”, there

might have conflict between two

committees over rights and

regulations. So, instead of creating

new one, CMC were prioritized for

conservation. Tourism board seemed

to be very active promoting tourism in

the caves and allocated budget (in

Alpeshore and Gupteshore cave) to

increase the visitor’s number. Trail and

temple construction inside the caves,

electric lights and visitor’s activity

were major threats to cave dwelling

bats. Project organized introductory

program with members of CMC to

aware them about bats and guide to

manage the caves in a bat friendly

manner.

2. Please explain any unforeseen difficulties that arose during the project and how

these were tackled (if relevant).

Trails and geography of landscape is very tough except the road way between Beni

to Jomsom. We surveyed all accessible caves found along the river but due to

terrain difficulty and inaccessibility there are still few caves remained to explore. We

find very difficult to hire a person who know the trail and exact location of cave

hence, for safety they were left unexplored and unstudied.

Figure 1: Landscape of study area showing Kaligandaki River near Galeshore,

Myagdi. ©Basant Sharma

We had limited number of mist nets, only one harp trap and no any acoustic

devices so, only trapping survey was conducted and we find very difficult to trap a

tree dwelling bats that forage in forest, agricultural and open lands. Bat used to

locate the position of mist nets/harp trap and continuously diverted their flight to

escape the capture. Large sized insectivorous bats; mostly Hipposiderous armiger

and Rhinolophus luctus as well as fruit bats; Rousettus leschenaulti and Cynopterus

sphinx used to cut the net strings and damaged quickly which reduces the amount

of good conditioned nets as well as probability of bat capture in next trapping.

Local people generally do not know about bats, Even school teachers were

confused either it’s a mammal or bird? Which food items they preferred? With lots of

confusion and superstitions believes (considering ghost, attacks on humans, eats

human eyes and ears, sign of bad luck) we found very difficult to correct these

believes and encourage them for bat conservation. CMC is developing caves for

touristic purposes and to increase visitor numbers, trails and temples were

constructed inside the caves, electric wires and bulbs were implanted for light which

are great threats for cave dwelling bats. Through tourism they can earn some

money and improve their income but making cave tourism in a bat friendly manner

is one of challenging issue in Nepal. We guided them not to use electric light in bat

congregating areas, hibernating periods and instruct visitors not to disturb bat while

they are at rest before entering into the cave.

3. Briefly describe the three most important outcomes of your project.

1) Several bat habitats were explored and their threats assessed

Bat activity in several habitats likes forest lands, agricultural lands, old trees and

houses were observed in the evening (after sunset) and threats they possess were

assessed. A total of 20 caves were explored among which 13 were observed to

utilize by cave dwelling bats. The caves hosting habitat for bats were categorised in

3 types: Highly prioritized, prioritized and less prioritized caves. Priority was based on

the bat species richness, colony size in the caves and level of anthropogenic effects

(visitor’s number, distance from nearest human settlement to cave, level of bat

knowledge in locals, cave modification for touristic purposes).

Table1. Caves identified from Kushma of Parbat to Jomsom of Mustang district

during the study period.

S.N Caves name Locations Elevation

(a.s.l)

Priority

order

Species

richness

1 Laleshore cave Chuwa, Parbat 824m Highly

Prioritized

2

2 Gupteshore cave Kushma, Parbat 810m Highly

Prioritized

4

3 Alpeshore cave Kushma, Parbat 818m Highly

Prioritized

6

4 Parbati cave Paang, Parbat 846m Highly

Prioritized

7

5 Milanchowk cave Milanchowk, Parbat 831m Prioritized 1

6 Army barek cave Baglung bazzar,

baglung

846m Prioritized 1

7 Aadheri cave Kudule, Baglung 855m Prioritized 1

8 Malluwa oodar Chamere, Myagdi 1211m Prioritized 1

9 Tara cave Ranipauwa, Myagdi 1189m Prioritized 1

10 Pauwa cave Ranipauwa, Myagdi 1267m Highly

Prioritized

3

11 Siddha cave Pokhare bagar,

Myagdi

1273m Less

Prioritized

1

12 Kopchepani

cave

Kopchepani,

Myagdi

2016m Less

Prioritized

1

13 Laleshore cave 2 Near laleshore cave 814m Unsuitable No bat

but

presence

of guano

14 Pipale oodar Paang, Parbat 826m Less

Prioritized

1

15 Chamere kuna Lasti, Parbat 897m Unsuitable No bat

16 Ghasha oodar Ghasha, Mustang 2125m Unsuitable No bat

but

presence

of bat

guano

17 Kokethani cave Kokethani, Mustang 2561m Unsuitable No bat,

no guano

18 Boksikhola cave Bokshikhola,

Mustang

2577m Unsuitable No bat,

no guano

19 Tukuche cave Tukuche, Mustang 2589m Unsuitable No bat,

no guano

20 Mamti cave Marpha, Mustang 2681m Unsuitable No bat,

no guano

Figure 2: Percentage

of caves on the basis

of priority orders (HP-

25%, P-25%, LP-25%

and Un-35%) recorded

from Kushma of Parbat

to Jomsom of Mustang

district along

Kaligandaki canyon.

Figure 3: Numbers of caves found in four different districts in the study site.

Figure 4: Cave entrance of Parbati cave, Paang, Parbat (Highly Prioritized cave).

©Basant Sharma

Figure 5: Tukuche cave, Tukuche, Mustang – unsuitable for bat roost. ©Basant

Sharma

Threats Observed

Major threat for bats is lack of knowledge and awareness among the locals. Most of

the people we interacted had very little knowledge about bats, as many of them

considered bat as birds that fly at night. They have had their own creepy stories

about bat entering into their houses and how they used to kill them. They used to

believe that when bat enters a house and roost in it something bad will happen.

Most of the caves were associated with cultural platform where villagers used to

smoke to worship the gods of their beliefs. Identity of Gupteshore, Alpeshore cave

of Kushma, Parbati cave of Paang and Siddha cave of Pokhare Bagar were given

behind the name of gods and goddess. Rocky structure formed after years of

weathering process inside the caves were assumed as symbol of gods by locals.

Cave tourism was observed as one of the emerging threats to cave bats.

Gupteshore, Alpeshore and laleshore cave are using for touristic purposes whereas

Parbati cave being under practice. Cave modification while constructing temple

and fire ignition inside Parbati cave is also frightening bats. Parbati cave is in great

risk of danger as vehicle road was constructed above the cave structure and

passage of heavy loaded truck and bus might destroy the cave at any time in the

near future.

Figure 6: implanting electrical wire (red circle), cemented roadway (Red arrow)

and Construction of temple (Yellow arrow) inside the cave structure of

Gupteshore cave. ©Basant Sharma

Figure 7: Roadway constructed above the cave structure of Parbati cave.

©Basant Sharma

Similarly, tree dwelling bats are also equally suffering from human disturbances.

Forest fire at Kopchepani and Lete, landslide caused due to unmanaged road

construction along Beni-Jomsom highway and landslides caused by

Kaligandaki River itself at Baisari, near Ghasha and Lete were observed as

major threats to forest bats.

Figure 8: Landslide occurred near Lete, Mustang. ©Basant Sharma

2) Bat species richness in each identified caves was documented.

For the first time, bat species richness in caves along Kaligandaki River and potential

habitats (fruiting areas, bamboo patches, forests and agricultural lands) were

surveyed. During the survey period (October 2017 and April 2018) a total of 287

specimens compromising 16 species of bats were captured using harp trap and mist

nets from 6:00 pm to 9:00 pm.

Hipposiderous armiger is the most captured bat as well as found roosting in most of

the bat roosting caves followed by Rhinolophus affinis whereas, Rhinolophus luctus,

Rhinolophus macrotis and Rhinolophus pusillus are captured only once.

3 caves were discovered to host a suitable habitat for Rousettus leschenaulti with

biggest colony recorded in Alpeshore cave.

Cynopterus sphinx generally prefer broad leaved trees and it is one of tent making

bat but in Parbati cave small scattered colonies (8 colonies, size ranging from 1 to

15) were observed. Cynopterus sphinx preferring cave is one of rare record.

Rhinolophus lepidus, Near-Threatened in national status (Jnawali et al. 2011),

recorded from Gupteshore cave was observed to emerge out earlier than the

sunsets and forage nearby the caves. This unusual behaviour of emerging earlier in

daytime is rare and might have been affected due to cave tourism. In daytime,

peoples are allowed to visit the caves and implanted electric bulbs were usually left

switched on. This might have disturbed the roosting bats and forced them to

emerge earlier than usual time.

Table2: Bat species recorded from each identified caves of Kaligandaki.

S.N Caves name Approximate

Colony size

Species Recorded

1 Laleshore cave around 300 but

fluctuate

during winter

and summer

Hipposiderous armiger, Rhinolophus affinis

2 Gupteshore

cave

More than

1500 but

fluctuate

during winter

and Summer

Hipposiderous armiger, Hipposiderous

cineraceus, Rhinolophus affinis,

Rhinolophus lepidus

3 Alpeshore cave More than

3000

dominated by

Rousettus

leschenaultia.

Hipposiderous armiger, Rhinolophus

affinis, Rhinolophus macrotis, Miniopterus

schreibersii, Rousettus leschenaulti, Myotis

(unidentified)

4 Parbati cave More than

1200

Hipposiderous armiger, Rhinolophus

affinis, Rhinolophus luctus, Rhinolophus

pusillus, Miniopterus schreibersii,

Cynopterus sphinx, Myotis (unidentified)

5 Milanchowk

cave

13

Hipposiderous armiger

6 Army barek

cave

116 Rousettus leschenaulti

7 Aadheri cave 9 Rhinolophus affinis

8 Malluwa oodar 88 Hipposiderous armiger

9 Tara cave 80 Rousettus leschenaulti

10 Pauwa cave More than 300 Hipposiderous cineraceus, Hipposiderous

(unidentified), Megaderma lyra

11 Siddha cave 8 Hipposiderous armiger

12 Kopchepani

cave

9

Hipposiderous armiger

13 Pipale oodar 1 Rhinolophus luctus

Apart from caves, three new species are captured from other sites, includes

Nyctalus noctula, captured only once near Alpeshore cave, Pipistrellus sp. and

Tylonycteris sp., captured only once near Gupteshore cave. Tylonycteris sp. (The

bamboo bat) was never recorded from Nepal. Hence, this project resembles new

and first record of genus Tylonycteris for the country.

Rhinolopus sinicus which was mentioned in update report 1 was confirmed and

corrected as Rhinolophus affinis.

The genus Myotis we captured from Parbati and Alpeshore cave seemed to prefer

cave as primary habitat and their taxonomic and morphological structures are

similar to Mytotis longipes and Myotis csorbai. Both of these species prefer cave

rather than trees whereas, Myotis muricola mentioned in the update report 1 prefer

trees and broad leaves. Hence Myotis muricola can be either Myotis longipes or

Myotis csorbai. Due to lack of authentic taxonomic details of both species this one is

remained to identify. In case of Pipistrellus, one can be either coromandra or tenuis.

Both of these species has similar taxonomic characteristics and due to lack of

taxonomic details in Nepal, species is under consultation. On the other hand,

Hipposiderous can be either fulvus or Pomona and because of lack of taxonomic

details on these species it remained as unidentified. Similarly, Tylonicteris can be

either pachypus or robustula and remained under consultation.

Please do follow the update report 1 for IUCN status and National status of each

identified bat.

Figure 9: Family Hipposideridae - 1) Hipposiderous armiger 2) Hipposiderous sp. 3)

Hipposiderous cineraceus

1

2

3

Figure 10: Family Rhinolophidae – 4) Rhinolophus luctus 5) Rhinolophus pusillus) Rhin

olophus lepidus 7) Rhinolophus macrotis 8) Rhinolophus affinis

4

7

8

6

5

Figure 11. Family Pteropodoidea: 9) Cynopterus sphinx 10) Rousettus leschenaultii,

Family Megadermatidae: 11) Megaderma lyra, Family Miniopteridae: 12)

Miniopterous schreibersii

9

10

11

12

Figure 12: Family Vespertilionoidea: 13) Myotis sp. 14) Nyctalus noctula 15)

Tylonycteris sp. and 16) Pipistrellus sp.

3) Conservation awareness camps were conducted along with CMC

Five conservation awareness camps were conducted in each highly prioritized

cave. School nearer those caves were selected for school teaching programs. In

awareness camps we aware school teachers, students, CMC and local people

about bats, their habitat and the roles they play on our ecosystem. Conservation

posters with key messages were distributed among students, teachers, locals and

cave management communities. Posters were also attached at the cave entrances

of Laleshore, Gupteshore, Alpeshore and Parbati cave as well as in hotels, tea shops

and gathering points. “Eco-tour” program was conducted in Alpeshore and

Gupteshore cave. People visiting in the caves were taught about bats and guided

them to visit the caves without disturbing the bats. Additionally, Mist net/harp trap

13

14

15

16

set up, bat capturing and handling demonstration was performed among the

members of Bat Friends Pokhara in Banpale Forest of Institute of Forestry (IOF)

Pokhara in March 2018 to motivate young undergraduate students in bat research

and conservation.

Figure 13: Bat conservation lecture session

As these caves already has cave management committee that’s why we do not

need to create a “Eco-Clubs”, instead of which interaction program with members

of cave management committee was conducted. They were taught about bats

and recommended to manage the caves in a bat friendly manner.

Figure 14: Local peoples with conservation posters. ©Shristee Panthi.

4. Briefly describe the involvement of local communities and how they have

benefitted from the project (if relevant).

School students, teachers, local women’s group and members of CMC are majorly

involved in the project. The school teaching program developed the positive

attitude towards the conservation of bats as well as others wildlife among young

school children’s. Interaction with teachers and women groups has increased their

level of knowledge towards unfamiliar bats and their habitat types. Interaction with

CMC guided them to manage the cave in a bat friendly way without hampering

the cave characteristics. Maintaining the cave characteristics would surely provide

better environment for cave biodiversity and will benefit local people by balancing

the local ecosystem. Now peoples living nearby those highly prioritized caves have

relatively higher increment in knowledge towards conservation than other areas and

familiar with critical ecological and economical services that bat has been

providing to their own agricultural farmlands and backyards. During the cave visit

one local guide was hired to show the location and path inside the cave. Project

has paid some amounts of money to the guide which somehow cover his/her few

days expenses.

5. Are there any plans to continue this work?

Yes! There is lot to do in the study area for bat conservation. Caves are threatening

due to rapid increase in visitors numbers than previous years. CMC has money

making intension and they will do anything to increase the visitor’s numbers by

promoting cave tourism. Construction of temples, implanting electrical wires and

modifying cave structure to create inner roadways is threatening the bats. These

kinds of anthropogenic pressure must be minimized for the long term conservation of

bats and caves in the area. This project is just a beginning phase which has

extracted valuable information of bats and threats they possess in the landscape

but deep down conservation and research should be in extensive manner for

safeguarding their habitats.

6. How do you plan to share the results of your work with others?

During the project period, project findings were shared among the participants of

RSG Nepal conference 2018 and Nepal Owl Festival 2018 via poster presentation.

One oral presentation about bats of Kaligandaki was given in Institute of Forestry

(IOF), Pokhara in collaboration with Bat Friends Pokhara. Few news articles were

published in newspaper and website of Nepal Bat Research and Conservation Union

(NeBRCU) as a blog posts and will continuously shared through them. I’m planning to

write one article paper on “Caves and Bats of Kaligandaki” and publish that in

International peer reviewed journal like. Several international and national

conferences will be attended to disseminate the results. Final draft of report will be

submitted to Department of National park and wildlife conservation (DNPWC),

Annapurnal Conservation Area Project (ACAp) and Department of Forest (DFO),

etc.

7. Timescale: Over what period was The Rufford Foundation grant used? How does

this compare to the anticipated or actual length of the project?

Project was completed in 3 phases of working activities and all the activities were

conducted as per the application form. Most of the grant was used in 1st phase

followed by 3rd and 2nd phase. 1st phase of work consisted 1 month of preliminary

survey and 1 month of trapping survey. Trapping survey was conducted earlier than

the project timeline as in winter bat activity will be lowed and chance of bat

capture in mist net and harp trap will be minimum. Allocated accommodation

expenses, Transportation expenses and field allowances for hired person as well as

assistants were used during this phase. 3rd phase consists of conservation awareness

camps. Allocated accommodation, transportation, field allowances, school

teaching/Eco-tour and several competition costs were utilized but working days and

total cost is slightly lower than the 1st phase. In second phase poster designing and

printing activities were done alongside publishing news articles, attending

conferences and writing blog posts, etc. This phase required relatively lower grant

amounts than 1st and 2nd phase.

8. Budget: Please provide a breakdown of budgeted versus actual expenditure and

the reasons for any differences. All figures should be in £ sterling, indicating the local

exchange rate used.

Item

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Am

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Ac

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Am

ou

nt

Diffe

ren

ce

Comments

1) Transportation

costs(two-way

transportation+ Internal

transportation)

240 270 -30 Researcher had to travel 3 times

from his residential to the study

site. Internal transportation costs

were slightly higher than we

anticipated.

2) Buying equipments

(Mist nets, vernier calliper,

spring balance, bat

bags), Hiring Harp trap

and field gears expenses

570 1010 -440 As researcher previously lacked

mist nets, Vernier calliper, spring

balance and bat bags. These

instruments were exported from

www.avinet.com. Total

equipment costs, taxes and

custom charges were relatively

higher. Harp trap was hired from

Nepal Bat Research and

Conservation Union (NeBRCU).

Maintenance and repairing costs

were also added after the end of

field visit as strings of harp trap

was badly damaged by bats.

3) Poster/ Pamphlets

making expenses

500 350 +150 1000 conservation posters were

printed form print house.

Designing and colour printing

costs were relatively cheaper

than we expected.

4)Field allowances for

assistant researchers and

local guides

1230 1230 0 Field allowances was distributed

exactly same as budgeted

amounts.

5)Food and lodging

expenses for Researcher,

bat expert, hired persons

and assistant Researchers

1625 1325 +300 Research team required to live in

hotels and some time in local

houses. Hotel expenses were

relatively higher but food and

lodging expenses in local houses

were cheaper which resulted

lower expenses than budgeted

amounts.

7)Communication

expenses

80 100 -20 Researcher had to buy extra

recharge cards for cell phones

and internet expenses were also

added.

8)Eco-Tour Expenses

(charge to guide and

snacks) and competition

expenses

615 415 +200 Guide charges during eco tour

and snacks charges and prizes

for several competitions were

lower than budgeted amounts.

9) Buying medicines,

Vaccination against

rabies and tetanus and

stationary charges

135 2 95 -160 Vaccination charge against

rabies and tetanus were relatively

higher and stationary expenses

rose higher than we expected.

Total 4995 4995 All amounts are presented in

pound starling.

9. Looking ahead, what do you feel are the important next steps?

The five caves (Gupteshore, Laleshore, Alpeshore, Parbati and Pauwa caves) host

suitable habitat for bats with colony size extending from 300 (Pauwa and Laleshore)

to 3000 (Alpeshore) but all the caves are associated with cultural practices and in

rise of cave tourism except Pauwa cave. Project guided CMC to manage the caves

in bat friendly way but management committee’s money making intension might

reverse the cave characteristics and threaten the bats roosting in it. Proper cave

management guidelines should be formulated to manage the caves in a bat

friendly manner as well as to promote cave tourism that satisfy local economy. This

could be the next step to continue the work.

The unidentified bat species from genus: Myotis, Hipposideros, Pipistrellus and

Tylonycteris needs strong species confirmation. These species must be recaptured

and should be identified through genetic analysis. Record of these species will

further add extra responsibility for researchers, community and government to

prioritize conservation and research on bats and their habitats.

Study site still has high potential for new record of bats. During our project period we

used only trapping methods (Mist nets and harp traps) to identify the bats. Some

species of bats even located the position of mist nets and harp trap and diverted

their flight to escape the capture. Species from genus Murina, Myotis and other

forest bats are yet remained to document. These species has distinctive echo-calls

records and can be easily identified through ultra sound detectors. Application of

acoustics devices might increase the bat diversity in the landscape which also could

be next step for the continuation of project.

10. Did you use The Rufford Foundation logo in any materials produced in relation to

this project? Did the Rufford Foundation receive any publicity during the course of

your work?

Yes! Rufford foundation logo was used in conservation posters and in poster

presentation. News article and blog posts were published alongside acknowledging

Rufford Foundation UK. Before starting the interaction programs in the awareness

camps Rufford foundation was acknowledged.

Figure 15: Conservation poster with Rufford logo (Red Circle) and project researcher

attending RSG Nepal Conference 2018 for poster presentation.

11. Please provide a full list of all the members of your team and briefly what was

their role in the project.

Bat Expert – Pushpa Raj Acharya

Dr. Acharya is a chairperson of Nepal Bat

Research and Conservation Union (NeBRCU)

and researcher at Nepal Academy of Science

and Technology (NAST). He is one of pioneer

bat researcher in Nepal. He involved during

the trapping survey for 15 days and guided to

setting up mist nets/Harp trap, bat capturing

and handling technique and identification

keys of several bats.

Research assistant – Sanjeev Baniya

Mr. Baniya is a BSc. Forestry graduated students

from Institute of Forestry (IOF), Pokhara. He is local

inhabitant of Pokhara valley and completed his

theses entitle “Assessing the human impacts and

seasonal monitoring of relative abundance of bats

on touristic caves of Pokhara, Nepal”. His role is to

assist in setting up mist nets/harp traps, releasing

bats from nets and their identification.

Research assistant – Anoj Subedi

Mr. Subedi is a BSc. Forestry student of Institute of

Forestry (IOF) Pokhara. He is currently awarded

with Stephen R. Tully Memorial grant to conduct a

research on nocturnal bird (owl) entitle “Exploring

the status and Distribution of Owls and its

Conservation initiatives in the Raghuganga

Gaupalika of Myagdi District, Nepal”. He is local

inhabitant of Myagdi district. His role is to assist in

setting up mist nets/harp trap, releasing bats from nets, their identification, data

keeping as well as assist in questionnaires survey/interview and preliminary field

assessment.

Local person – Yubaraj Sapkota

Mr. Sapkota is a BSc. Agriculture student of Institute

of Agriculture and Animal Sciences (IAAS). He is

local inhabitant of Baglung district and familiar with

the geography of the study site. He is involved in

the preliminary assessment of the caves. His role is

to assist in cave visit, mark geographical locations

of caves and conduct questionnaires

survey/interview with local peoples.

Conservation assistant – Shristee panthi

Mrs. Panthi is a BSc. Forestry student at Institute of

Forestry (IOF) Pokhara. She is working as a secretary

of Bat Friends Pokhara and has interest in Butterflies

too. Her role is to assist in teaching program and

poster distribution/attachment and interact with

teachers, women’s group and cave management

committee.

Conservation assistant - Bandana Subedi

Mrs. Subedi is BSc. Forestry student at Institute of

Forestry (IOF) Pokhara. She also has interest in

butterflies. Her role is to assist in teaching program and

poster distribution/attachment and interact with

teachers, women’s group and cave management

committee.

Media Person – Harikrishna Gautam

Mr. Gautam is currently working as an editor of Nagarik dainik-Pachimeli samaj and

admin of Benionline – a local media Facebook page having more than 70000 of

followers. His role is to publish bat related news in newspaper and in Facebook

page.

Figure16: Team working during the night time. ©Anoj Subedi

12. Any other comments?

During the “Bat Capturing, Handling and Identification” training ceremony to the

members of Bat Friends Pokhara in Banpale Forest of Institute of Forestry, Pokhara,

and project has successfully recorded Eonycteris spelaea which is the rare record

from Nepal and new to the Pokhara valley, Myotis sicarious (Vulnerable in IUCN and

national status) which is also new to the Pokhara Valley. Short-communication

reports of both articles are on peer reviewed process of Barbastella-a bat journal

and will be published soon in future acknowledging Rufford Foundation.

Figure 17: Bat capturing, handling and identification training to the members of Bat

Friends Pokhara at Banpale Forest of Institute of Forestry (IOF), Pokhara.

Alongside bat species richness, project has recorded presence of Red-headed

vulture (Critically endangered in IUCN) in Kushma and Maldhunga, Egyptian vulture

Kushma, Baglung, Beni and Tatopani (Endangered in IUCN) and Himalayan griffon

vulture (Near threatened in IUCN)in Ranipauwa, Tatopani and Ghasha, Asian

Wollyneck stork (Vulnerable in IUCN) in Baglung and Himalayan ghoral (Near

Threatened in IUCN) in Baisari.

At last I’m grateful to Rufford Foundation, UK for this grand opportunity and grant

support to conduct a bats survey and conservation awareness program along

Kaligandaki canyon. My special thanks to Adria Lopez Baucells, Joe chun-chia

huang and Sanjan Thapa for helping me to identify species and confirmation.

Thank you so much!!