 Nepal is a land of extreme contrasts in climate and geography, It has a unique topography ranges from lowlands with sub-tropical jungles to arctic conditions in the Himalayan highlands. Within a mere 150 kilometres the land rises from near sea level in the south to over 8,000 meters in the North. As a result, Nepal has been endowed with a diversity of life zones providing a home for a large variety of plants, birds and animals.
This is the richest habitat in the land with tall grasslands interspersed with riverine and hardwood Sal forest. Here one can see wildlife such as the swamp deer, musk deer, black buck, blue bull, the Royal Bengal Tiger, Gharial and mugger crocodiles, and the wild buffalo. This area is also rich in birdlife with a variety of Babbles and Orioles, Koels and Drongos, Peacocks and Frolics, and a multitude of winter wildfowl.
The gorgeous multi-coloured Lmpeyan Pheasant (Nepal's national bird) is also found here with other endangered birds like the koklas and Cheer Pheasants. Protected areas in this zone include Khapted National Park in the Far-West, Dhorpatan
Hunting reserve, Northwest of Pokhara and Shivapuri Wildlife Sanctuary near Kathmandu. |
