Asiatic black bears (Ursus thibetanus) have a widespread distribution in mountain landscapes, and are considered vulnerable globally, but are low-priority species for conservation in Nepal. Habitat fragmentation, illegal hunting, and human-bear conflict are the major threats to Asiatic black bears across their global range. Having an adequate level of genetic variation in a population helps with adapting to rapidly changing environments, and thus is important for the long-term health of bear populations. Accordingly, we conducted non-invasive surveys of bear populations in the Annapurna Conservation Area (ACA) to elucidate genetic diversity, genetic structure, and the phylogenetic relationship of Asiatic black bears from this region of Nepal to other subspecies. To assess levels of genetic diversity and population genetic structure, we genotyped eight microsatellite loci using 147 samples, identifying 60 individuals in an area of approximately 525 km2. We found that the Asiatic black bear population in the ACA has maintained high levels of genetic diversity (HE = 0.76) as compared to other bear populations from range countries. We did not detect a signature of population substructure among sampling localities and this suggests that animals are moving freely across the landscape within the ACA. We also detected a moderate population size that may increase with the availability of suitable habitat in the ACA, so bear-related conflict should be addressed to ensure the long-term viability of this expanding bear populations. Primers specific to bears were designed to amplify a 675 bp fragment of the mitochondrial control region from the collected samples. Three haplotypes were observed from the entire conservation area. The complete mitochondrial genome (16,771 bp), the first obtained from wild populations of the Himalayan black bear (U. t. laniger), was also sequenced to resolve the phylogenetic relationships of closely related subspecies of Asiatic black bears. The resulting phylogeny indicated that Himalayan black bear populations in Nepal are evolutionary distinct from other known subspecies of Asiatic black bears.

Mammals have experienced a massive decline in their populations and geographic ranges worldwide. The sloth bear, Melursus ursinus (Shaw, 1791), is one of many species facing conservation threats. Despite being endangered in Nepal, decades of inattention to the situation have hindered their conservation and management. We assessed the distribution and patterns of habitat use by sloth bears in Chitwan National Park (CNP), Nepal. We conducted sign surveys from March to June, 2020, in 4 × 4 km grids (n = 45). We collected detection/non‐detection data along a 4‐km trail that was divided into 20 continuous segments of 200 m each. We obtained environmental, ecological, and anthropogenic covariates to understand determinants of sloth bear habitat occupancy. The data were analyzed using the single‐species single‐season occupancy method, with a spatially correlated detection. Using repeated observations, these models accounted for the imperfect detectability of the species to provide robust estimates of habitat occupancy. The model‐averaged occupancy estimate for the sloth bear was 69% and the detection probability was 0.25. The probability of habitat occupancy by sloth bears increased with the presence of termites and fruits and in rugged, dry, open, undisturbed habitats. Our results indicate that the sloth bear is elusive, functionally unique, and widespread in CNP. Future conservation interventions and action plans aimed at sloth bear management must adequately consider their habitat requirements.

Nepal is a small country located in South Asia which is geographically highly diverse and fairly rich in its variety of endangered wild animals. Conservation and monitoring of endangered wildlife is great challenging task in developing country like Nepal. Different body parts of wild animals are used as raw material for making pharmaceutical products, cosmetic, and other purpose; hence their value increased in the international market, as a result poaching and trading activities of endangered wild animals has been increased rapidly at protected areas in Nepal. This review will provide detailed information about different population monitoring techniques being applied for different endangered wild animals in protected areas of Nepal. Techniques like camera trapping, radio collar, noninvasive methods, mobile application, GPS, GIS, direct head count, etc. are commonly used for monitoring wildlife in Nepal. Since conservation of endangered wildlife species has become very much crucial, more advance technologies and social network analysis will be also used to determine the monitoring of wild animals at protected areas in Nepal.

However, many of the records from Nepal are based on either presence-only surveys or anecdotal information. Herein we provide a checklist of snakes found in and around Bardiya National Park (BNP) and its buffer zone.Bardiya National Park (28°15'-28°35.5'N, 80°10'-81°45'E; elevational range 152-1,564 m asl) (Fig. 1) covers an area of 968 km 2 in the southwestern lowlands of Lumbini Province, Bardiya District, Nepal (Bhuju et al. 2007; DNPWC 2021). A buffer zone of 327 km 2 with forested areas and farmland surrounding the park was added in 1996 and another 180-km 2 area in the north was included in 2011. The climate is temperate with dry winters and hot summers. Biomes include tropical and subtropical grasslands, savannas, shrublands, and tropical and subtropical coniferous forests, although no forests are intact. The recorded biodiversity is 839 species of plants and 667 species of animals.We collected information on snakes collected from BNP and its buffer zone in 2010-2021 from the database of the National Trust for Nature Conservation, Bardiya Conservation Program (NTNC-BCP) rescue records and by reviewing the literature, recording opportunistic sightings, interviewing local residents, and gathering data posted on various social media platforms. We evaluated all data and included only reliable information documented by photographs acquired from snake handlers and nature guides of the Buffer Zone User Group (BZUG) or technicians and staff of the NTNC-BCP. We identified species using published guidebooks (Dutta and Manamendra-Arachchi 1996;Shah and Tiwari 2004;Sharma et al. 2013;Bhattarai et al. 2020).We recorded 24 species of snakes in eight families in and around BNP and its buffer zone (Table 1; Fig. 2). Twentytwo of the species were among the 27 recorded by Shah and Tiwari (2004) in and around Bardiya National Park, and 16 were among the 18 listed by Subedi et al. (2021) in the Chure Region. We recorded eight species not listed by Subedi et al. (2021) and three species that had not been recorded by Shah and Tiwari (2004). Subedi et al. (2021) listed two species and Shah and Tiwari (2004) six species we did not find during our survey. When compared to other areas in Nepal, the species diversity in the vicinity of BNP corresponds to the 19 (18 in common) recorded in Parsa National Park (Bhattarai et al. 2018), 25 (16) throughout the Chure Range (Bhattarai et al. 2020), and 30 (22) in Shuklaphanta National Park (Rawat et al. 2020).Nepal's snake diversity and that of BNP in particular are threatened by habitat degradation, nest damage, roadkills, and indiscriminate killing attributable to unfavorable perceptions of snakes (Shah and Gautam 2010). Many Nepalese do not distinguish venomous and non-venomous snakes and assume that all snakes are dangerous and must be killed (Thapa 2007

Mammals around the world face serious threats and experience massive decline in their populations and geographic ranges. The sloth bear has become extinct from two of five range countries and the existing population face serious conservation threats. Despite being endangered in Nepal, decades of conservation obliviousness have hindered their conservation and management. We assessed the distribution and habitat use by sloth bears in relation to landscape, environmental, and anthropogenic factors in Chitwan National Park, Nepal. We conducted a sign survey from March-June 2020 in 4*4 km2 grids (n=45) in a checkerboard approach. An observation was spatially replicated four times by recording information in four continuous search trails of 1 km each. We recorded presence/absence of sloth bears, termites, fruits and disturbance in the field and extracted information on tree cover, terrain ruggedness and vegetation index from remotely sensed image of the study area. The data was analyzed using single species-single season occupancy method in PRESENCE software. By using repeated observations these models account for imperfect detectability of species to provide robust estimates of species occupancy. Averaged habitat occupancy estimate obtained from the best models was Ѱ = 0.53 ± 0.04SE with detection probability p = 0.44 ± 0.1SE. Selection of variable based on summed AIC weight from the top models (AIC<2) showed that presence of termites (ƩWi=0.66) significantly influenced sloth bear habitat occupancy. Habitat occupancy was positively influenced by termites followed by fruits, disturbance, terrain ruggedness and vegetation productivity, whereas, it was negatively influenced by tree cover. We suggest that future conservation interventions and action plans aimed at sloth bear management must adequately consider these requirements and issues.

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Nepal is rich in avian diversity and records more than 886 bird species with 23 orders and 97 families. The study was carried out to assess the species diversity of birds, types of habitats used and presence of birds in different habitats in the summer season in Khata and Karnali corridor forest of Bardia and Kailali districts respectively. This study aims to update avian diversity of Khata and Karnali corridor of Bardia National Park, Nepal, which is an important birds and biodiversity area of Nepal. Riverine Sissoo-Khair Forest, moist mixed forest and riverine grassland are prominent habitats in the study area. Index of diversity and species evenness indicate the high species diversity of birds in Khata corridor forest rather than Karnali corridor. By mobilizing volunteers, we monitored 79 transects (24 in Khata and 55 in Karnali) each with one km long in summer seasons of 2022. A total of 1,455 individuals of birds belonging to 153 species were recorded. 153 species of birds belonging to 12 orders and 40 families from the Khata and Karnali Corridor are recorded; out of which 137 species were recorded in Khata and 86 species in Karnali with 1,048 and 407 individuals respectively. Species richness and diversity of all birds was high in Khata corriodr rather than Karnali and showed significant variation along protected forest in Khata than unmanged Karnali. The globally threatened bird, Great Slaty Woodpecker (Mulleripicus pulverulentus) and White-rumped Vulture (Gyps bengalensis) were recorded in Karnali and Khata corridors respectively. Similarly, one Nepal protected bird; Black Stork (Ciconia nigra) was recorded in Khata corridor. Altogether 14 recorded bird species are included in CITES Appendices in which Oriental Pied-Hornbill (Anthracoceros albirostris) is recorded in Appendix I and rest are in Appendix II.