While the heavy snowfall in the recent days has affected people’s normal life in the district, it has also made it easy for poachers to hunt endangered birds and animals.

Lal Bahadur Shahi fromMartadi said the number of rare birds and animals in the district is decreasing due to the rampant killing and smuggling of such species. Many areas in the district, including Martadi, Kailashmandu, Chatara, Pandusen, Dahakot, Jageda and Manakot, are covered with thick snow.

Meanwhile, smugglers are also found to have killed lophophorus, the country’s national bird. Locals say hunting of ghoral, barking deer and wild boar, listed under the category of endangered species, has not yet decreased despite the ban imposed by the government on such activities. One can find people bargaining about the price of rare birds openly at local eateries. According to one hotelier, poachers quietly exchange the bag and cash and even the government staffers purchase lophophorus from villagers. A lophophorus can fetch up to Rs 2,000 in the local market.

Officials at the District Forest Office, however, claimed that hunting of endangered birds and animals has decreased after police seized weapons being used without license. Local people, however, say many people have not yet handed over their illegal weapons to police. 

“We have been adopting various techniques for curb poaching,” District Forest Officer Dayaram Poudel said. As per the existing laws, one can be sentenced to 15 years in prison for poaching endangered animals.