Silver Pheasant, Central Zoo, Kathmandu

On my visit to the Central Zoo in Kathmandu I was interested to see some of the animal and bird species I had missed seeing out in their natural habitat. One of these species was the beautiful Silver Pheasant. This species is widespread in mountain forests of south east Asia, including Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam as well as China.

It is a widespread and common species in its natural habitat. It has also become a common species kept by aviculturalists.

I was disappointed that the above photo was spoiled by the wire mesh of the cage. Many exhibits in the Kathmandu Zoo are spoiled in this way.

Kalij Pheasant, Central Zoo, Kathmandu

One of the birds I saw on my visit to the Central Zoo in Kathmandu was this Kalij Pheasant. It was actually labelled “Kaliz Pheasant” but I assume they meant the former. Some of the other labels also showed variations in spelling of species names.

I am not at all familiar with the species and haven’t seen it in the wild. My research has shown me that this pheasant is native to the northern parts of the Indian sub-continent, particularly the slopes of the Himalayas in Nepal. I didn’t have the opportunity to see this species in its natural habitat during my stay in Nepal.

I have also discovered that this species is widely kept by aviculturalists and that there are several distinct races.

Cattle Egret, Central Zoo, Kathmandu

One of the beautiful birds I saw on display during my visit to the Central Zoo in Kathmandu was this Cattle Egret. This species was quite familiar to me as it occurs locally here in South Australia. I’ve also seen this species on display in various zoological collections here in Australia.

This species has an interesting history here in Australia. It began colonizing parts of Australia during the 1940s, probably coming from Indonesia. Since then it has spread throughout northern Australia, down through eastern Australia as far as Tasmania and southern Western and South Australia.

It has a wide range of preferred habitats, including pastures, croplands, paddocks, swamps, wetlands, estuaries and tidal mudflats. The individual shown in the photo is showing a little orange plumage on the forehead. In full breeding plumage this species can be spectacular with the whole of the head, throat and front a bright orange colour.

The species is native to Africa and Asia but it has spread to both north and south America as well as to Australia.

The photo below was taken of a bird in a walk through aviary at the Adelaide Zoo in South Australia. It shows the orange breeding plumage.

Cattle Egret, Adelaide Zoo

Wild Water Buffalo, Central Zoo, Kathmandu

The buffalo is used in many parts of Nepal’s agricultural areas. They are also common as a beast of burden throughout Asia. Very few – perhaps as few as 4000 individuals – remain as truly wild animals. Throughout my travels in Thailand and Nepal I witnessed the use of this animal on farms, but farmers are turning to what one guide called “Japanese buffaloes” (tractors made in Japan).

There are small populations in the wild throughout its former range, and can now be found in India, Bhutan, Vietnam and Thailand. It has been widely domesticated and feral populations have established in many places. One of these populations includes a huge feral presence in northern Australia where they have been responsible for much environmental damage. In recent years there has been an active eradication programme. Over recent decades large numbers have been shot from helicopters and the population is now under control with only small pockets surviving.

Himalayan Black Bear

The Himalayan Black Bear is also known as the Asiatic Black Bear, the Tibetan Black Bear or the Moon Bear. It is a medium sized sharp clawed black coloured bear. It has a distinctive white or cream V marking on its chest. It is closely related to the American Black Bear.

The Asiatic Black Bear has a wide distribution range spanning from the east to west of the Asian continent. This bear can be found in the forests of hilly and mountainous areas in East Asia and South Asia, including South Korea, North Korea, Afghanistan, Pakistan, northern India, Nepal, Sikkim, Bhutan, Burma, southern Siberia in Russia, northeastern China, Taiwan and Japan.

I found it very sad to observe the bear shown in the photo above on display in the Central Zoo in Kathmandu. Its cage was rather small and very uninteresting to the bear who was constantly on the move, obviously very bored with its enclosure. At least Australian zoos try to display this species in large airy enclosures that try to simulate its normal habitat. The keepers here also go to great lengths to keep the animals stimulated in many ways.

In today’s more enlightened world there is no excuse for displaying animals in the way shown in Kathmandu.

Nilgai, Central Zoo, Kathmandu

The Nilgai is also known as a Blue Bull. The animal shown in my picture taken in the central Zoo in Kathmandu is a female. The male is a bluish-grey in colour. Why I didn’t get a photo of the male I don’t know. I must try to get a good photo at the Monarto Zoo which is just a ten minute drive from my home here in South Australia.

Nilgai are members of the antelope family of animals. They are relatively common in northern India and eastern Pakistan. There are also small populations of Nilgai in the Terai region of southern Nepal, mainly in the Royal Bardia National Park.

Nilgai are large animals, standing at about 1.5 metres tall and 2 metres long. They can weight between 120 and 240 kilograms.

For more information click here (Wikipedia) .

There is also a large feral population in parts of the United States, mainly Texas. These populations have thrived from animals that escaped from private collections. Nilgai in Texas are a prized animal amongst hunters.

I find it horrific that such a beautiful animal can be allowed to be hunted just for sport.

Leopard, Central Zoo, Kathmandu

The above photo of a Leopard was taken at the Central Zoo in Kathmandu. It was sad to see such a magnificent animal caged up like that in a very inadequate enclosure. Added to this was the fact that it wouldn’t give me a full face shot. Never mind.

Indian Leopards are a subspecies of leopards found throughout the Indian subcontinent.

The Indian leopard is one of the most successful members of Indian big cats. The animal is distributed throughout the subcontinent, including in the border nations of Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, and southern China. Habitat varies from dry deciduous forests, desert ecosystems, tropical rainforests, northern coniferous forests, to near human habitation. (fromWikipedia)

On our elephant rides through the Royal Chitwan National Park in the Terai area of southern Nepal I was aware of the possibility of seeing leopards as well as tigers. Sadly we saw neither. To have seen these magnificent animals in their natural habitat would have been wonderful.

The leopard’s diet varies on all sorts of creatures from small animals, to larger quarry such as, monkeys, deer, and antelope. The animal silently stalks its prey, ending with a quick bite to the throat. It then stores its prey up in the tree to keep it safe from scavengers. (Wikipedia article)

Tiger, Central Zoo, Kathmandu

One of the highlights of my trip to Nepal was the chance to get out into the forest and attempt to see a tiger in its natural environment. This opportunity came during my four day stay in a hotel right next to the Royal Chitwan National Park, one of a handful of places in Nepal where one can hope to see a wild tiger. Alas – it was not to be.

Despite spending quite a few hours on the back of an elephant searching the forest and grasslands in the national park, no tiger emerged. I am not sure whether I was relieved or disappointed. I guess I was somewhat disappointed we didn’t see such a magnificent animal in the wild, but at the same time I felt relief that we didn’t have a close encounter with one; I felt rather exposed and vulnerable, even on the back of an elephant!

While talking to one of the guides over dinner in the hotel, he admitted that he’d only ever seen two tigers in over twenty years of guiding, both on the same day! Only a few hundred visitors out of many hundreds of thousands to the park every year actually get to see one. The following information comes from the Wikipedia article:

Distribution: The Bengal Tiger or Royal Bengal Tiger (Panthera tigris tigris) is a subspecies of tiger primarily found in Bangladesh and India and also in Nepal, Bhutan, Myanmar and in southern Tibet.
Habitat:It is the most common tiger subspecies, and lives in a variety of habitats, including grasslands, subtropical and tropical rainforests, scrub forests, wet and dry deciduous forests and mangroves. Its fur is orange-brown with black stripes. It is the national animal of both Bangladesh and India.

Food: In the wild, Bengal Tigers are pure carnivores and hunt medium-sized and large-sized animals, such as wild boar, deer, gaurs and water buffalo. They also prey on smaller animals like hares, monkeys, langurs and peacocks. Bengal Tigers have also been known to prey on young Asian Elephants and rhino calves.

Status: Estimates in 2005 indicate an approximate worldwide population of 4,500 Bengal Tigers: The bulk of the population of about 3000 individuals live in India. There are about 200 tigers living in both Bangladesh and Nepal.

For more information check out Wikipedia here.

Tiger, Central Zoo, Kathmandu

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Rhinoceros, Central Zoo, Kathmandu

It was something of an anti-climax to see the One-horned Rhinoceros in the Central Zoo in Kathmandu. This was because I had already seen several of this species in their natural habitat in the Terai region of southern Nepal.

On my visit to the Royal Chitwan National Park I went on two elephant rides through the park and we saw a One-horned Rhinoceros on each of those rides. I have already written about that experience here and here.

The One-horned Rhinoceros (Rhinoceros unicornis) is also called the Indian Rhinoceros. This is one of five species of rhino in existence today; several other species are now extinct. It’s preferred habitat is the tall grasslands and forests of north eastern India and southern Nepal, including the Terai region where I saw it. They have very good hearing but rather poor eyesight.

The One-horned Rhinoceros is an endangered species. By 1910 its numbers had dropped to about 100 individuals and was thus on the brink of extinction. A concerted conservation effort has seen this number rise to about 2400 at present, some 535 of which live in Nepal. While the success of the conservation programme is encouraging, it is still on the endangered list.

The numbers of rhinos dropped dramatically due to a combination of poaching for their horns and the destruction of their habitat. In some parts they can be a pest species to local farmers. On one of my trips through the farming area near Royal Chitwan NP I saw first hand evidence of the destruction of crops by a rogue rhino only the night before.

Rhinoceros, Central Zoo, Kathmandu

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For more information about the One-horned Rhinoceros click here.

Hippopotamus, Central Zoo Kathmandu

On my visit to the Central Zoo in Kathmandu I was delighted to get these photos of two hippos. The photo above could well be used on a poster entitled “Contentment” or perhaps even “Friends”.

I didn’t see any hippopotami in the wild in Nepal. That’s not surprising because they are an African animal. I did, however, see several Rhinos (click here and here) in the Royal Chitwan National Park.

Hippopotamus, Central Zoo Kathmandu

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More photos can be found on my Photo Gallery here.

More information about hippopotami can be found on the Wikipedia article here.