Stream I: Wildlife Management and Biodiversity Conservation

(b) Gandaki

Gandaki Province holds the largest share of protected area in Nepal, mainly because of the very large Annapurna Conservation Area (about 7,629 km$^2$) and the Manaslu Conservation Area, together with part of Dhorpatan.

(b) People participation / Integrated conservation and development program

The 1982 Bali (3rd World) Congress on National Parks shifted thinking from strict protection to involving local people. Nepal responded with buffer zones, conservation areas and community-based conservation, which link conservation with local development.

(a) Swamp deer

Swamp deer (barasingha) were translocated from Shuklaphanta National Park to Chitwan National Park to establish a second population and reduce the risk of a single-site loss. Rhinos have moved the other way, from Chitwan to Shuklaphanta.

(a) Wild elephant and remaining parts of chaar koshe jhaadi

Parsa National Park is known for its wild elephant population and for protecting the remaining Chure forest of the Char Koshe Jhadi (the old forest belt) in the central Terai.

(a) Barandabhar

The Barandabhar corridor links Chitwan National Park in the lowland with the Mahabharat range (upland), allowing wildlife to move between lowland and upland habitats.

(a) India, Nepal and China

The Kailash Sacred Landscape is a transboundary landscape covering parts of India (Uttarakhand), Nepal (far-west) and the Tibet Autonomous Region of China.

(d) All of the above

Dobhan, Lamahi and Mahadevpuri are all narrow, pressured stretches that threaten connectivity between protected areas of the Terai Arc Landscape. Other bottlenecks include Khata, Basanta and Kamdi.

(b) 1986

The first rhino translocation from Chitwan to Bardia was carried out in 1986. Later translocations followed in 1991 and 2000 (Shuklaphanta).

(a) Population bottleneck or genetic bottleneck

A sharp fall in population size caused by events such as disease, fire, floods or human activity reduces genetic diversity and may lead to inbreeding.

(b) Environmental stochasticity

It refers to unpredictable fluctuations in the environment (weather, food supply, disease) affecting a population. Demographic stochasticity is random variation in births and deaths of individuals, and genetic stochasticity concerns random changes in gene frequencies.

(b) Predator and prey

The principle is illustrated by the rabbit and fox: the rabbit runs for its life while the fox runs only for its dinner. The stronger selection pressure on the prey drives an evolutionary arms race between predator and prey.

(b) 235

The 2018 national tiger census (Nepal) estimated 235 tigers, up from 121 in 2009 and 198 in 2013.

(a) Robert H. MacArthur & Edward O. Wilson

They proposed the equilibrium theory of island biogeography (1967): species richness on an island is a balance between immigration and extinction, depending on island size and distance from the mainland.

(a) Wild boar

Wild boar is not on the protected list of the National Parks and Wildlife Conservation Act, and farming of such species is permitted under licence. Musk deer, tiger and snow leopard are strictly protected and may not be farmed commercially.

(d) Sweeping method

The 2021 national rhino count (752 rhinos) was done by direct counting using the block (sweeping) method, with teams on elephants moving across the grassland in lines and recording rhinos seen.

(b) NRs 200,000

Under the guidelines (as amended in 2075), the government pays up to Rs 200,000 for treatment of humans seriously injured by wildlife in a government hospital.

(a) Dispersal

Dispersal is movement of an animal (usually young) away from its birth area to settle in a new area, establish a territory and breed. Migration is a regular seasonal round trip, and emigration is one-way departure from a population.

(b) Endangered

Under IUCN Criterion A, a population reduction of at least 70% over 10 years or 3 generations (whichever is longer) qualifies as Endangered. Critically endangered requires at least 90% and vulnerable at least 50%.

(a) Ecotones

An ecotone is a transition zone between two or more habitats or communities (for example forest and grassland) and often has high species diversity, called the edge effect.

(d) All of the above

Sexual dimorphism, ornamental traits and extra-pair paternity are all evidence of sexual selection, which acts through mate choice and competition for mates.

(a) Commensalism

In commensalism one species benefits and the other is neither helped nor harmed. In mutualism both benefit, and in amensalism one is harmed while the other is unaffected.

(c) Which are in high priority because of donors' interest

Flagship species are charismatic species (such as tiger, rhino and snow leopard) used to attract public attention and funds for conservation.

(c) Territory

A territory is the part of the home range that an animal defends against others of its species. A home range is the area used regularly, and need not be defended.

(b) Cervidae family

Pellet group counts are used mainly for deer (Cervidae) such as spotted deer, barking deer and swamp deer, because they deposit dung in distinct pellet groups that can be counted along transects or plots.

(d) Infrastructure development

Ecotourism principles include benefits to local communities, environmental conservation and visitor satisfaction through education. Heavy infrastructure development is not a principle and often conflicts with ecotourism.