Ranjha, August 1
An increasing number of untimely deaths of wild animals in the Banke National Park (BNP) has become a cause for concern among the national park’s officials, conservationists and the locals alike.
The BNP recorded 34 deaths of wildlife from accidents while 25 others lost their lives due to other reasons in the last fiscal year 2020/21. In the fiscal year 2019/20, 54 wild animals succumbed to road accidents and factors such as fights among the animals, rabid dog bites and natural disasters among others.
The park’s Assistant Conservation Officer Mahesh Neupane shares 358 wild animals in the park died due to road accidents from 2014 to 2020. Among the dead animals, monkeys, wild boars and spotted deer account for the highest numbers.
Given the drivers’ gross negligence such as overspeeding vehicles on the roads crossing the park, natural reasons such as fog, mist among others also claimed the lives of the wild animals.
Most of the wild animals were killed accidentally on the 71-km road stretching from Shiva Khola in the east of the park to Kohalpur in the west and 32-km of Ratna Highway from south to north of the park. Vehicles have knocked down the wild beasts in the BNP accidentally on these roads.
