Sunil Lal Rajbhandari

Ecology of Lutrogale Perspicillata in Chitwan National Park, Nepal Sunil Lal Rajbhandari

This book describes the status, habitats and conservation aspects of smooth coated otter in Chitwan National Park. The otters are distributed in the areas of western channel of Narayani River from Giddeni to Bhosarghat, but are absent in other sections of the river due to several factors like habitat degradation, human disturbances, high depth of river, current, some patches of sandy and muddy islands along the shoreline, boulders and rocky cliffs on the edge, high fishing pressure, stagnant condition of river due to the impact from construction of Gandak barrage. The tracks were observed in sandy and muddy substrate along the shoreline of shallow river course with dense cover of Saccharum, Phragmites and Typha sps. The lack of strict enforcement of parks rules and regulations, patrolling, awareness, over fishing, poisoning, use of gill net, grazing, sand and boulder extraction and the Tribeni dam are the serious threats effecting the otter populations. The park management must adopt appropriate conservation measures and policies to ensure the protection of these mustelids in the river basins of Nepal.