Kathmandu June 12:

Camera trapping in the Kanchanpur’s Laljhandi protected forest area continues to take stock of the state of wildlife there. The trapping aims to locate animals’ habitats, determine species of animals and their numbers in the area by identifying potential poacher(s) and smuggler(s) of forest and timber products. According to Division Forest Office, Kanchanpur, the trapping goes on since the beginning of third week of May by excluding the forest’s ‘core’ area. It will continue till June 14 month. It is supported by the Terai Arc Landscape (TAL) programme and 40 automated cameras have been fixed in the area. The area covers wildlife corridor, pasture land, lakes and ponds. Two Division employees and four from TAL are stationed there to handle the trapping which so far shows the presence of deer, big cats, leopard, blue bull, wild boar and so on. Out of cameras installed in the area, three have been stolen and they are being searched for, it is said. The team assigned for its monitoring will submit a report to the Division Forest Office following the completion of trapping. The Division being based on the same report will come up strategies to conserve wild lives, improve their habitats and control poaching. Eighty-seven percent of forest area lies in the Terai and 13 percent in the Chure region. It stretches over the area of 29,641.75 hectares of land