8th Annual Save The Frogs Day 2016 atop the Mountains

Save The Frogs Day this year on April 30 climbed high atop the mountains and was observed at Manaslu Conservation Area (MCA), Shree Buddha Secondary School at Philim, Sirdibas Village Gorkha district, Nepal. Manaslu Conservation Area is a biodiversity-rich region managed by National Trust for Nature Conservation (NTNC) as Manaslu Conservation Area Project. 

Damaging, killing, torturing, disturbing wild animals/plants, and their habitat is strictly prohibited under different Acts of the Protected Area. MCA has seven villages and inhabited by Gurungs, mostly in southern parts, while Lamas and Tibetans reside in higher areas. Buddhism is the dominant religion in MCA, thus villages like Chumchet and Chhekampar are designated as ‘Kill-free’ zones for ages. Anyone charged guilty is penalized NPR 50,000 - 1,00,000 and two nights behind the bars.

In Sirdibas, fishing and collecting Paha (Mountain stream frogs) are considered normal. Paa liebigii and Chaparana sikimensis are two frogs heavily exploited in the region. MCA is reported to have 16 amphibian species. However, local communities were found to have basic to no understanding of the frogs' importance and global decline. Paha hunting for consumption because of delicacy and presumed health benefits is the primary threat to frogs here in Manaslu. Thus a team of Biraj, Min Bahadur & Suraj headed MCA walking three days to reach Philim, Sirdibas VDC for a frog conservation project “Saving Mountain Frogs (Paha) Before It’s Too Late; Conservation Effort at Manaslu ConservationArea, Gorkha District, Nepal”. I am very much indebted to The Rufford Small Grants (RSG) and The Pollination Project (TPP) for necessary funding, MCAP Office, Friends of Nature (FON) Nepal, SAVE THE FROGS!, DNPWC and local community for their co-operation and support.

MCAP office is located at Philim and manages various issues in the region. We met MCAP Head of Philim Office, Bishnu S Thakuri, and discussed our conservation work. He welcomed unique initiatives like ours that needed to be dealt with greater awareness. We then toured around the village, inviting the local community to join the 8^th Annual Save The Frogs Day on April 30, 3016. The major attractions of the event were SAVE THE FROGS! Speech, Frog Race, and Frog Art Contest.

People from all walks of life came to join the event despite their daily chores and community gatherings. Teachers, school kids, hoteliers, farmers, MCAP officers, and conservationists gathered at the meeting hall of the school. The building looked shabby with a pile of construction materials in a haphazard fashion. Few temporary living shelter tents were fixed to the school ground. Let me tell you that Sirdibas VDC lies just above the Barpak village which was the focal point of last year’s (April 25, 2015) disastrous 7.8 magnitude earthquake. Entire Barpak was destroyed during then and the nation suffered a huge irreplaceable loss. MCA even sustained damages in terms of houses, trails, schools, water availability, landslide, livestock loss, and human lives.

Anyway, we started our event at 9 AM, Min Bahadur acted as an emcee and gave a welcome note with the introduction. Biraj (RSG & TPP grantee) talked about overall Amphibians: Introduction, Status, Diversity, Habitat, Ecology, Importance, Threats, Gaps, and Our Role. In a group discussion for threat assessment, women complained that it’s mostly males that go for hunting Paha at night time. Those who were involved in hunting at least once in their life felt a warm blush. We then carried out the Frog Art Contest involving students from the school. The concept was very unique this time as we did the paintings on stone slates, which had been damaged in last year’s earthquake. Narendra, Man bahadur & Dhan Bahadur Gurung came first, second, third and awarded prizes.

Our Frog Race at the school ground was another fantastic fun-filled activity appreciated by locals. The winners were felicitated with froggy prizes and certificates. Mr. Bishnu Singh Thakuri gave concluding remarks about the event as a good initiative to conserve declining amphibians from MCA and asked locals to participate in paha conservation before it’s too late.

An Amolops formosus, commonly called Beautiful Stream Frog and ‘Raslang’ in the local language, was observed at nearby Yuwang river in Sirdibas VDC during the afternoon survey. It secretes slimy substance and creates odor as a defense mechanism which causes slightly burning kind of irritation if held in hand. Local people do not consume this frog because of its strong bitter taste. 

Snake lovers gather for the first time under one roof in Nepal

One evening I received a call from the King Cobra rescuer, Mahendra Katila, from Pokhara, Nepal. He shared a bit of his vision to assemble snake lovers from different corners of the country and organize the first snakes’ conservation seminar. With a degree in Law, Katila dai spends the majority of time talking about snakes, rescuing awe-inspiring king cobras, and making people aware of its importance. Much to my surprise, he tirelessly worked over the proposal, caught into hassle, but ultimately managed to fund the program “Snakes of Nepal: Issue of Conservation and Future Perspectives.”

It was a special moment to see the most uncommon people from different parts of Nepal under one roof sharing their experience with snakes. One privileged occasion to meet Dr. Chabilal Thapa, Bharatpur Hospital, Chitwan, who worked seriously over snake bite and management issues in Nepal. Dr. Khem B Karki, Member Secretary of Nepal Health Research Council (NHRC) urging the Government of Nepal to produce our own stock of Snake Anti-venom across the country. The Polyvalent Anti-venom vials we had in Nepal are imported from India and with rising pressure from Animal Rights in India to curb commercial production of anti-venom beyond India’s need, the High Court passed a bill for no exportation of anti-venom vials elsewhere. Dr. Karki (NHRC), thus, stressed upon initiating the production of snake anti-venom in Nepal before we face dire consequences from the short supply in the future. This was one of the main agendas of the seminar, along with conservation issues.

Dr. Chhabilal Thapa at the center

More than happy to meet the daring snake-man of Nepal, Prem Bista from Biratnagar who’s a retired Police officer but has rescued more than 300 deadly kraits and cobras from human settlements. He’s got a real knack for venomous snake handling and long experience in this field over 20 years. Last year while on a rescue, he got bitten by a Binocellate Cobra. But he remained very calm, strong internally, and won the struggle throughout the treatment. The bite left a scar over his left arm but Bista dai is hell-bent on rescuing more deadly venomous snakes. Great to see colleagues; Kamal Devkota, Jeevan Thapa, Chiranjeevi Khanal, Rishi Baral, Santosh Bhattarai, and Biraz Chaudhary who’s been passionately studying and rescuing snakes. New faces include Adv. Ram Kumar Acharya, lecturers from PN Campus, Dept. of Zoology, Pokhara, nature guides from Sauraha, students of forestry colleges (IOF), and snake charmers.

Prem Bista

Two days' meeting (May 27-28) concluded with a need for setting up an umbrella organization for Snakes Conservation and Anti-Venom production in Nepal. This was a great beginning and might be the first gathering of a bunch of people who are guided by none other than their passion for working with SNAKES in Nepal. See you next time.’