Status, Distribution And Habitat Use Of Hispid Hare (caprolagus Hispidus) In Royal Suklaphanta Wildlife Reserve, Nepal

摘要

The hispid hare is one of the world's rarest mammals. It is included in the protected animal species list under the National Parks and Wildlife Conservation Act, 1973. CITES has included it in Appendix-1, and IUCN lists it in the endangered category. Historically, it has been recorded from tracts along the southern Himalayan foothills from Uttar Pradesh (India) through Nepal and West Bengal to Assam (India), extending southwards as far as Dacca in Bangladesh (Blandford, 1888; Dawson, 1971). In the present day it occurs in India and Nepal, but may be extinct in Bangladesh (IUCN, 2004). It still exists in a few isolated pockets across the former range of its tall grassland habitat in northern India and southern Nepal. Evidence of the occurrence of hispid hare was found in three protected areas, i.e. Royal Chitwan National Park, Royal Bardia National Park, and Royal Suklaphanta Wildlife Reserve by Oliver in 1984.