 Koshi Tappu Wildlife Reserve (175 km2) lies on the flood plains of the Koshi River. The rectangular - shaped Reserve is contained within the east and west embankments of the Koshi Barrage. Therefore, the entire Reserve is subjected to seasonal flooding during monsoon. This Reserve was gazetted in 1976, and established mainly to preserve the habitats for the last remnant population of wild water buffalo in Nepal. In addition, there are larger ungulates such as gaur, nilgai, hog deer and wild pig, and medium sized predators such as fishing cat, jungle cat, and civets. The Koshi River also supports sparse populations of endangeded species such as the Gangetic dolphin and gharial.
The
Koshi
Barrage
at
the
boder
of
the
east
Nepal
and
India,
was
completed
by
the
Koshi
Project,
a
Government
of
India
undertaking,
in
1964
to
contain
the
monsoon
floods
as
they
had
become
more
devastating,
and
to
irrigate
farmlands,
creating
abundant
marsh
and
littoral
habitat
making
it
Nepal's
most
important
wetland.
At
75m
elevation,
the
Koshi
Barrage
is
one
of
the
lowest
area
in
Nepal
with
14
species
of
birds
found
nowhere
else
in
Nepal
have
been
recorded.
Because
of
its
great
wetland
importance,
the
Government
of
Nepal
acceded
to
Ramsar
Convention
in
1987,
and
thus
Koshi
Tappu
has
been
included
in
the
list
of
Wetlands
in
International
Importance.
Because of open access to the Koshi Barrage area from India, Koshi Tappu Wildlife Reserve is equally threatened with wildlife-related damages. Also, herders from both India and Nepal have set their bases for cross-breeding their domestic herds with the wild buffalo for vigor and for fodder. Today, feral cattle in the Reserve outnumber wild buffaloes.Both feral and wild buffaloes raid crops by wandering as far as 10 km from the reserve boundary into farmlands. The high incidence of crop raiding, and ensuring conflict, is a cumulative action of over 100 wild buffaloes, some 500 feral water buffaloes, and over 7,000 cattle. |
