Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation (DNPWC) of Nepal to give a nod to a proposal that allows game hunters to legally hunt Himalayan blue sheep in the Kanchanjunga Conservation Area (KCA).

Male blue sheep. [File photo]

The proposal, however, is yet to get final approval from the Ministry of Forest and Soil Conservation (MoFSC). The government is planning to issue licences to hunt around 12 naurs inside this protected area in the following year.

Once the MoFSC endorses the DNPWC proposal, the KCA will become the second trophy hunting destination for hunters after the Baglung-based Dhorpatan Hunting Reserve, The Kathmandu Post reported on Friday.

KCA, located in Taplejung district in eastern Nepal, is the first protected area being managed by local communities.

DNPWC Director General Krishna Chandra Acharya was quoted by the daily as saying the department has forwarded the proposal to the ministry concerned for final approval by making necessary changes following a request from the KCA management to legalize hunting of naurs.

In July this year, KCA had submitted the proposal along with necessary guidelines to the DNWPC in view of an increasing number of professional hunters. The major objective of the document is to promote sustainable conservation while providing economic benefits for the local communities involved in bio-diversity conservation.

Of the four valleys selected as habitats of blue sheep in the KCA during a census conducted in 2010, Yangma and Lelep have recorded a good population of around 1,500 naurs and are likely to be potential sites for hunting.

According to Acharya, it is the right time to diversify the income sources for the local communities who have been actively taking part in conservation of valuable flora and fauna for years. "As the population of blue sheep is found satisfactory particularly in the two valleys located inside the protected area, the permission to allow game hunting with strict regulations will not affect the conservation of this important animal," he said.

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