KAPILVASTU, FEB 02 - The increasing loss of habitat due to deforestation, use of chemical fertilizers and human encroachment has caused the decline in the number of country’s bird population over the years.
According to the 2011 report of the Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation (NPWC) and Bird Conservation Nepal (BCN), 149 species of birds have been listed in the threatened list.
“There has been no let up in human activities and the bird habitat is dwindling. Not much effort is being put for conservation. It is only inevitable if the list of threatened bird species have become longer by now,” said Hemraj Baral, an ornithologist.
The Zoological Society of London, National Trust for Nature Conservation and Himalayan Nature are jointly conducting a survey to find out the number of bird species in the country. The preliminary study suggests as many as 170 species could fall in the threatened list.
Sushila Neupane, chief executive director of BCN, said nearly 84 percent of the threatened bird species had reached the endangered state solely due to habitat loss.
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