If visitors to the <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/its-a-jungle-out-there">Bardia National Park </a>are lucky, they can sometimes spot a bevy of otters frolicking with their pups along <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/the-karnali">the Karnali River.</a> Or they might be out fishing, brown fur gleaming in the sun as they emerge from the water with a fish in the mouth. But on a recent daytime visit to the national park in Kailali, there was no such luck. All that pointed to their presence were tracks on the sand by the banks of the Karnali (pictured, below).&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250314030320_9c5ba49b740896453946aedc632f1cb8df8e886cda7107996f5a40893d99f016.jpg" data-media-id="editor_2" data-image-id="20250314030320_9c5ba49b740896453946aedc632f1cb8df8e886cda7107996f5a40893d99f016" data-rendition-name="original" width="1200" height="1600" loading="lazy" alt="Otters footprint "> <figcaption>Photo: SUDIKSHA TULADHAR</figcaption> </figure>  When it comes to <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/human-animal-interface-in-nepal-wildlife-corridor">wildlife</a>, the news cycle in Nepal is dominated by <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/in-conservation-nepal-is-not-out-of-the-woods-yet">tigers and rhinos</a>, and their <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/is-wildlife-conservation-a-victim-of-its-own-success-in-nepal">conservation success stories</a>. This means other <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/lesser-known-endangered-species">endangered mammals </a>like pangolins and otters remain in the shadows.&nbsp; Many Nepalis are not even aware that otters exist in Nepal. There are three species found here: the Eurasian Otter (Lutra lutra), Smooth-coated Otter (Lutrogale perspicillata), and Asian Small-clawed Otter (Aonyx cinereus). All are usually nocturnal, or most active at dawn or dusk to avoid predators like <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/crocodile-chronicle">crocodiles</a>, <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/does-nepal-really-have-too-many-tigers">tigers</a>, and <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/clouded-future-for-the-clouded-leopard">leopards</a>. Otter species found in Nepal prefer freshwater <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/importance-of-ecosystems-for-people-and-the-planet">ecosystems </a>along fast flowing <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/saving-what-is-left-of-himalayan-rivers">Himalayan rivers</a> and the <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=18976">wetlands</a> that they feed. The Asian Small-clawed Otter feeds on crabs and mollusks, the Smooth-coated otter, primarily found in rivers of Karnali and Narayani, preys on fish, playing a crucial role in maintaining balance in the aquatic ecosystem.&nbsp; Their dependence on <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/solution-to-kathmandu-s-water-crisis">clean water</a> makes otters bioindicators, which means their abundance shows a healthy ecosystem and unpolluted water bodies.&nbsp; Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/people-tigers-trees-and-rivers">People, tigers, trees and rivers</a>, Shashank Poudel “Otters hunt in the water, but they spend most of their time on land, often along the boulders and sand on the banks,” explains Arun Sonaha, otter conservation expert from the indigenous Sonaha community. Otter scat contributes to nutrient cycling as well as the fertilisation of riverbanks and wetlands, indirectly promoting vegetation. Smooth-coated Otters and Asian small-clawed Otters prefer lowland habitats. The former have adapted to survive in human-altered landscapes, and have been found to reside in <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/pouring-concrete-on-rice-fields">rice fields</a> and <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/latest/infrastructure-for-wildlife-in-nepal">irrigation canals</a>.&nbsp; However, Eurasian Otters adapt to <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/nepal-must-prepare-for-climate-migration">seasonal changes</a> by moving up to 3,660m during the summer, and migrating to lower elevations in the winter. The presence of Eurasian Otters has been recorded in 24 districts across Nepal, while the Smooth-coated and Asian Small-clawed species have been documented in 12 districts. Otters have been spotted in the Karnali, Narayani, Kosi, and Mahakali <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/india-nepal-ignore-climate-crisis-in-river-talks">river systems</a>. The smallest of the 13 known otter species, Asian Small-clawed otters, were recorded in Nepal for the first time in 185 years earlier this year in February in Dadeldhura.&nbsp; “We track the movement of Smooth-coated Otters using 18 camera traps in Bardia,” explains Aashish Kapali from the <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/world-lost-2-3-of-its-animals-in-50-years-wwf-report">World Wildlife Fund (WWF) Nepal</a>. Smooth-coated otters have still been observed in healthy numbers along the Karnali, but the otter population is in decline. The smooth-coated otter and Asian small-clawed are currently listed as ‘vulnerable’ in the IUCN Red List, while the Eurasian Otter is ‘near endangered’.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250314030324_f20e9290f9e92401be7a5c8c53d080c80e8c0583fa991def89bb3081329255dd.png" data-media-id="editor_20" data-image-id="20250314030324_f20e9290f9e92401be7a5c8c53d080c80e8c0583fa991def89bb3081329255dd" data-rendition-name="original" width="2048" height="1521" loading="lazy" alt="Otters 2"> <figcaption>PHOTO: SAGAR GIRI/ WWF NEPAL</figcaption> </figure>  <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/multimedia/rivers-be-dammed">River damming</a>, indiscriminate and illegal fishing, changing rainfall patterns and <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/decarbonisation-needs-to-begin-today">extreme weather</a>, rapid urbanisation in Nepal’s lowlands have contributed to loss of otter habitats and depletion of food sources. Pollution from <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/20-years-ago-this-week/clearing-the-air-ha86ztz4">raw sewage and industrial waste </a>has also added to<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/between-existence-and-extinction-in-nepal"> habitat degradation</a> while <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/from-the-nepali-press/banned-pesticides-are-widely-used-in-nepal">pesticides </a>have directly impacted their prey population. “The pesticides sprayed on fields drain into the rivers, affecting the fish population,” says Kapali. “This reverberates across the food chain and affects otter numbers.”&nbsp; Until a few years ago, otter poaching also ran rampant. Between 1989 and 2017, 755 otter pelts were confiscated in Nepal but <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=18566">communities living along the Karnali </a>have since stepped up efforts to protect the mammals. “Our continuous conservation efforts have meant that we currently do not have issues with poaching,” says Sonaha. Read also:<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/protecting-pangolins-from-being-eaten-to-extinction"> Protecting pangolins from being eaten to extinction</a>, Sonia Awale Community members are also working to revive the indigenous knowledge about over-fishing, and they also get skills training for alternative livelihoods.&nbsp; “The training not only enables us to earn a living but also helps us conserve otters,” says Buddhi Singh Tharu, chair of Himal Samuha community group for otter conservation. Fishing in the river is still allowed, but it must be done in a way that ensures smaller fish and tadpoles, the primary prey for otters, are not caught. “We use fishing nets that allow smaller fish to escape so that numbers in the river are balanced and under control,” explains Tharu. Across <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/multimedia/nepal-villages-cope-with-climate-induced-floods">Kailali and Bardia</a>, 15 Community River Stretch Management Groups have been established to conserve Smooth-coated otters. Women have been significantly more active in otter <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/women-conserve-men-still-conservative">conservation efforts</a>, with a 68% participation rate. Sudha Chaudhary, 45, was once a fisher, but now has transitioned to <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/the-superfoods-of-the-andes-and-the-himalaya">chili and tomato farming</a> with support from WWF Nepal and believes that conserving otters is essential for maintaining and sustaining the Karnali ecosystem. Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/conversation-with-mr-conservation">Conversation with Mr Conservation</a>, Sonia Awale Meanwhile, despite constant monitoring, sand mining and inadequate <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/managing-everest-s-waste-problem">waste management</a> continue in the Karnali, including by local officials, destroying otter habitats. <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/conservation-at-the-crossroads">Community conservation groups</a> here have expressed concerns about municipal authorities dumping waste near <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/the-karnali">the Karnali River</a>. However, experts also point to a lack of policies when it comes to otter conservation. While the Aquatic Animal Protection Act of 1961 and the National Parks and Wildlife Conservation Act of 1973 exist, they are inadequate for the conservation of these vulnerable semi-aquatic animals. Talks are underway for the government to approve a new action plan for otter conservation. For now, <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/remembering-nepal-s-conservation-heroes">conservationists</a> emphasise the need for <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/wildlife-people-coexistence-in-nepal-national-park">human-wildlife coexistence</a> to foster sustainable ecosystems that protect <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/the-great-trans-himalayan-bird-migration">Nepal’s biodiversity</a>, to achieve which continued <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/comment/villagers-step-up-to-protect-nepal-s-tigers">community conservation</a>, education and awareness efforts are crucial. Says Tharu: “It is our responsibility to conserve otters to ensure their survival for generations to come.”

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Saving the Karnali otters

<figure><img width="1500" height="1000" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110111124/636cd1439c7e80680e08f8a3jpeg.jpg" alt=""/><figcaption>Loss of their favourite grass due to the spread of invasive vines have forced rhinos to venture outside Chitwan National Park, like this one in Sauraha in 2019. Photo: SAGAR GIRI</figcaption></figure>Between 1986 to 2017, as many as 100 rhinos were translocated from Chitwan to Bardia National Park. Three decades later, only 37 remain.The rhinos were taken to Bardia because the animals were dying due to overcrowding, increase in infrastructure, human-animal conflict, and frequent territorial fights among males in Chitwan National Park. Among the translocated animals, 55 were male and 45 female rhinos, and transferring them to Bardia was also an insurance in case disease felled rhinos in Chitwan, or they were washed away in floods as happened in 2017.A 2005 census put the rhino population in Bardia National Park at 67, but the number had slumped to 22 by 2008. Authorities at the Park say 34 rhinos fell prey to poachers. In 2020 alone, 4 rhinos were killed by ivory traffickers, dashing Nepal’s hopes of achieving a five-year streak of zero rhino poaching.“The population of the rhinos had been increasing prior to the surge in poaching last year,” says Bardia National Park conservation officer Bishnu Prasad Shrestha. “Poaching goes up whenever the attention is diverted, as happened during the conflict or the pandemic.”During the 1996-2006 insurgency, the Nepal Army that guards parks was deployed to fight the Maoists, and this became a boon to poachers. The number of the one-horned rhinos nationwide plunged during that period from 612 in 2000 to less than 375 by the end of 2005.Until the 1950s, Nepal boasted an estimated population of <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/how-many-rhinos-is-enough-rhinos/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/how-many-rhinos-is-enough-rhinos/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1609914505013000&amp;usg=AFQjCNHcaYrs6YwmjKnMqlrrq64_CE7Z9g">close to 1,000 Greater One-horned Rhinoceros</a> in the Chitwan region. At that time, the numbers dwindled because of habitat loss as Tarai jungles were cleared for settlements, hunting, and poaching.After the national parks were established, the military guarded the parks and brought poaching under control. The comeback of the rhinos and tigers in Nepal was regarded as an international success story. <figure><img width="966" height="1032" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110111124/636cd1469c7e80680e08f8a4jpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption>After watering holes inside Chitwan National Park started drying up, rhinos often saunter around Sauraha for a drink. Photo: CHITWAN NATIONAL PARK </figcaption></figure>However, with the pandemic, security was relaxed and <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/what-drives-wildlife-poaching/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/what-drives-wildlife-poaching/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1609914505014000&amp;usg=AFQjCNEWDBsSgSYDrCnp4ysQerUTW-9sVA">poachers took advantage</a> of this. After five years of zero rhino poaching, Chitwan alone has lost four rhinos to poachers in the past year. This was of serious enough concern for the Nepal Army to launch ‘Operation Maha Hunt’ to <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/wildlife-poachers-active-during-lockdown/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/wildlife-poachers-active-during-lockdown/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1609914505014000&amp;usg=AFQjCNFZ1JxTs04zu09hxrt8Z8WzFoFpeg">track down poachers.</a>“While there was a surge of poachers during the pandemic, the rhino population in the region is increasing again,” says Shrestha. But there is enough evidence on the ground that points to continued threats faced by wildlife in Nepal.In April 2020, <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/7-musk-deer-killed-by-poachers-during-lockdown/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/7-musk-deer-killed-by-poachers-during-lockdown/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1609914505014000&amp;usg=AFQjCNFJUHWDShB6iRqEC74CERaCBXcFZA">poachers killed six endangered Himalayan musk deer</a> inside the Sagarmatha National Park, a protected area. Police in Bajura district seized wildlife contraband including tiger and leopard pelts, bones, bear gall bladders, and deer antlers from poachers intending to smuggle them into China in June 2020, providing evidence to the killing of animals in the conservation areas that were going unchecked.In Chitwan, rhinos prefer the western floodplain grasslands and riverine forests near the Rapti, Narayani and Reu rivers, and are relatively fewer in number on the eastern side of the park. A similar lack of watering holes and suitable grassland habitat along the Babai Valley in Bardia could be one reason for the decline of translocated rhinos. <figure><img width="1500" height="1000" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110111124/636cd1489c7e80680e08f8a5jpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption>The rhino’s favourite grasses are being over-run by invasive mikania micrantha, locally known as banmara. Photo: KUNDA DIXIT</figcaption></figure>Bardia National Park is constructing and managing artificial ponds and grasslands for rhinos and other wildlife, but it seems this not enough of an incentive for them to thrive.“Rhinos require watering holes in riverine areas as well as suitable grassland to rest and graze, both of which are lacking in Bardia,” says Joint Secretary of the Ministry of Forests and Environment Dr Ramchandra Kandel. “Bardia’s natural habitat is not suitable for rhinos.” <figure><img width="848" height="784" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110111124/636cd14b9c7e80680e08f8a6jpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption>A rhino washed down to India in a flood in 2017, being tranquilised and returned to Chitwan National Park three years later in August 2020.</figcaption></figure>Their preference of habitat makes rhinos especially vulnerable to floods during the monsoon. Moreover, the species face an increasing threat of inhospitable changes in their living environment brought about by calamities due to climate change.Massive flooding on the Rapti and Narayani rivers in Chitwan National Park swept away 11 rhinos along with other wildlife to India in August 2017—the last rhino was <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/india-returns-nepali-rhino-swept-away-by-flood/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/india-returns-nepali-rhino-swept-away-by-flood/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1609914505014000&amp;usg=AFQjCNEPVUGIJQJ9FDiE6ERhHaaSp6DTWw">repatriated</a> to Nepal in August 2020.Last year, 13 rhinos died due to <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/climate-change-new-threat-to-nepals-rhinos/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/climate-change-new-threat-to-nepals-rhinos/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1609914505014000&amp;usg=AFQjCNHpZMYldyLYcOO9pIxRfH3ltbmiTQ">flooding amid record-breaking rainfall</a> across much of Nepal. Chitwan—the primary sanctuary of the Greater One-horned Rhinoceros in the country—recorded 3,130mm of rain, significantly higher than the annual average in the region. According to the 2015 census, the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/how-many-rhinos-is-enough-rhinos/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/how-many-rhinos-is-enough-rhinos/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1609914505014000&amp;usg=AFQjCNHfknBmXXX2WcTsmgaIWONr1tsPhw">wildlife population in Nepal surged back</a>, over the years upping the total rhino population in the country to 645. Of these, at least 620 are in Chitwan National Park alone, with the rest scattered in Parsa, Bardia, and Shuklaphanta reserves.  Conservationists say that the tale of Bardia’s missing rhinos is an important reminder that suitablility of the habitat, food supply, and adequate water should be important considerations before translocating wildlife.

Where have Bardia’s rhinos gone?

<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109141132/636bac6c9c7e80680e077f2fjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="780"/><figcaption>Himani Tharu is so frustrated with her job as the only female mahout in a Bardia National Park elephant camp that she mustered the courage to speak to a journalist. Photo: MUKESH POKHREL</figcaption></figure>Himani Tharu may be the first female elephant mahout serving in Nepal's national parks, but her story is hardly inspirational.Instead, it exposes a system that is unable to welcome gender inclusivity. She faces double discrimination: first because she is a woman and second for belonging to an indigenous community.Harassed by her lower-level co-workers, and ignored by senior staff, Himani says she hopes no one will follow in her footsteps and become a female mahout.“I wouldn’t wish this much suffering upon anyone,” she says.Born on the outskirts of the Bardia National Park, Himani Tharu, 27, grew up close to elephant sanctuaries, and was familiar with both elephants and the people who cared for them.<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/editorial/3-4th-of-the-sky/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">3/4th of the sky</a>, EditorialDespite that, Himani did not really want to become a mahout. She had plans to graduate from school and get a regular office job. But ten years ago, the Public Service Commission put out a notice for the position of a female mahout, and her family encouraged her to apply because it supposed to be a stable government job.Himani struggled to keep up with the demands of her new profession: she had to learn to take care of elephants, collect grass, take the elephants out to graze, constantly feed them, and clean up after them. She was also required to ride the elephants on the Nepal Army’s jungle patrols.She loved the elephants, especially a baby one, and made friends with them. It was her human co-workers who were unhelpful, disrespectful and ordered her around.“Sometimes they would leave me alone in the middle of the jungle and I would get lost. Other times they would lead my elephant into the river and leave it there,” she says.<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/nepals-better-halves/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Nepal’s better halves</a>, Anil ChitrakarAs the only female among 30 mahouts at the national park, she is often targetted for bullying and harassment, but there is no one she could talk to because of the park's hierarchy.“Had there been about three or four of us women, they would not have dared misbehave but I am the only woman,” says Himani, recalling how her colleagues would deliberately make loud obscene conversations when she was around. When she told them to stop, they scolded her instead.Himani faced constant attacks on her character and integrity. Every time she even spoke to a fellow-mahout or asked for help from a male co-worker, she would subject to vicious teasing.“One of the senior male mahouts used to help me, but after other men in the camp started associating us he was intimidated and stopped coming near me,” says Himani.<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/betterforbalance/">#BalanceforBetter</a>, Namrata SharmaAll complaints to senior officers at the camp were ignored, and Himani felt there was no point reporting her colleagues anymore when they engaged in lewd conversation when she was around.The whole system is gender-blind. The elephant camp does not have separate quarters for women, and she has to sleep in a dorm with 15 other men. It is worse when she had to go on overnight jungle patrols in Bardia National Park.Fed up with the treatment and frustrated with her job, Himani mustered the courage to speak frankly to a journalist. She said she had packed up to quit her job many times, but was always persuaded by her relatives and friends to stick it out.She says: “I am determined to find another job, and finally resign during this lockdown. I have put up with everything for so long, I don’t know how long I can take this.”Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/epidemic-of-online-sexism/">Epidemic of online sexism</a>, Shusma Barali<a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/Online-violence-against-women,2915" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Online violence against women</a>, Sahina Shrestha

Don’t follow my footsteps, says female mahout

<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109141132/636babe99c7e80680e077f03jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1050" height="756"/>6 January, 2004. It was a foggy and cold winter morning in the western Tarai. As secretary of the Gauri Community Forest User Group, Bhadai Tharu was escorting a group of 15 villagers into the woods. They are allowed into the protected forest once a year to collect thatch and fodder.Tharu, now 51, was also responsible for the management of the forests that formed a vital biodiversity corridor for wildlife of the<a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/regular-columns/So-far-so-good/bardiya-beginnings-Lisa-Choegyal,1085" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://archive.nepalitimes.com/regular-columns/So-far-so-good/bardiya-beginnings-Lisa-Choegyal,1085&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1593667729890000&amp;usg=AFQjCNG5HS_bcD3YQWX6sCM0smVUf7xR9A"> Bardia National Park.</a>What started out as a perfectly normal day soon turned into a nightmare. The sun had burnt off the fog by noon, and Tharu and his colleagues heard a growl from the undergrowth of the sal hardwood forest.Before he knew what was happening, in a flash of orange the tigress leaped out of the bushes and went straight for Tharu’s face, swiping him with her mighty paw. The blow knocked him down, and he fell unconscious on the ground.<a style="font-size: 15px; letter-spacing: 0.01em;" href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/its-a-jungle-out-there/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">It's a jungle out there</a>, Kunda Dixit<a style="font-size: 15px; letter-spacing: 0.01em;" href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/tiger-selfie-is-highest-ever-sighting-in-nepal/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Tiger selfie is highest-ever sighting in Nepal</a>, Mukesh PokhrelHis petrified team fled the scene, and the tigress dug her claws into Tharu’s face, gouging out his left eye. She was pinning him down with her forelegs when Tharu came to. Instinctively, he punched the big cat on her face, and the tiger slipped away, disappearing back into the jungle.He could feel warm blood pouring down his face, and stumbled back to the river crying out for help. Eventually, some nearby grass cutters came to his rescue, and he was rushed to hospital in Nepalganj where he spent a month recovering.<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109141132/636babec9c7e80680e077f04jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1125">“I would have died if I had run”Krishna Shah was guiding a Dutch tourist on a day-long walking safari through the Bardia National Park in February 2016. They were tracking footprints and fresh dung which meant there were <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/how-many-rhinos-is-enough-rhinos/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">rhinos</a> nearby. Sure enough, they found the rhinos were grazing and the tourist was busy clicking away, when there was a terrific roar.The tiger appeared out of nowhere between the two, who both ran for their lives.  “After running for 20m I looked back to find no one behind me. I had lost my guest, and was worried the tiger had killed the Dutchman,” he recalls.With another guide, he circled back to the spot to look for his guest, who called down from a tree he had climbed to escape. What Shah did not know was that the tiger was waiting in ambush, and pounced on him from behind trying to get his jaws around his neck.<a style="font-size: 15px; letter-spacing: 0.01em;" href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/how-many-tigers-in-nepal/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">How many tigers in Nepal?</a>, Kunda Dixit<a style="font-size: 15px; letter-spacing: 0.01em;" href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/champions-of-nepals-conservation-movement/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Champions of Nepal's conservation movement</a>, Lisa Choegyal“Had I chosen to run, the tiger would have definitely caught and killed me, I had no option but to fight back. It was a kill or be killed situation,” Shah, 38, remembers. “The tiger reared up on its hind legs to attack, and I poked it with a stick. It scratched me with its claws and pushed me to the ground.”The other guide then hit the tiger from behind with a tree branch, so the tiger decided he’d had enough and ran off. The group was rescued by a National Park <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/Nepali-Times-Buzz/how-humans-can-live-with-wild-elephants%20,4179" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">elephant</a>, and Shah was lucky to escape with only scratches.<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109141132/636babef9c7e80680e077f05jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1125" height="1500">Knocked unconsciousSundarlal Chaudhari’s life has revolved around his cattle that he grazes every day in the grasslands at the edge of the Bardia National Park. That day in February 2004 had been like every other, and as the winter sun started to set Chaudhari was walking home with 40 cattle from the Kailasi Community Forest, on the fringes of the Park.He did a swift mental count and realised one of his calf was missing. With three other herders, he went into the forest to find it, and spotted a tiger had half-eaten the calf. As Chaudhari got closer, the tiger attacked. His back and hands were mauled by the tiger’s fearful fangs. His companions shouted and yelled, and drove the tiger away. Chaudhari had already lost consciousness, and was rushed to hospital where he was lucky to make a full recovery.<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109141132/636babf29c7e80680e077f06jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="640" height="1352">“The water buffaloes saved me” Last year, 67-year-old Mayaram Khanal from Geruwa Rural Municipality in Bardia was grazing his buffaloes near the National Park. Suddenly, a tiger attacked Khanal hurling him about 10m away. It then leaped down to finish him off when, incredibly, Khanal’s two water buffaloes came to his rescue. They swung their formidable horns at the tiger, chasing it away and saving Khanal’s life. The buffaloes are now treated like heroes in the village.<a style="font-size: 15px; letter-spacing: 0.01em;" href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/is-wildlife-conservation-a-victim-of-its-own-success-in-nepal/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Is wildlife conservation a victim of its own success in Nepal?</a>, Mukesh PokhrelPost-scriptIn all of these close encounters with tigers, the lives of the people who survived went through a transformation.When Bhadai Tharu lost his eye, he was angry at the tiger making him disabled, and was determined to take revenge. “It was fate, but I thought if I saw that tiger again, I would kill it,” Tharu remembers thinking. “I was also angry at the people for not coming to my rescue earlier. But as my wounds healed, my anger diminished.”Bhadai Tharu is now a tiger conservationist, seeing the forest habitat as a place where animals and people have to co-exist. “Tigers are vanishing as their<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/nature-without-borders/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/nature-without-borders/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1593667729890000&amp;usg=AFQjCNEmja4W4JWuYu58vtHEOsu_sruO7A"> habitats</a> shrink, and when the tiger attacked me, it was just doing so to protect itself from danger,” he says.Today, Tharu trains locals in conservation practices, and provides educational material to local schools. He has also persuaded many poachers and smugglers to abandon their profession. They threatened to shoot him, but he seems to have lost all fear. He has even created inspection patrols to curb smuggling of tiger parts.It was all because of his near-death experience. “If I had not been attacked by that tiger, I would not be saving tigers. I came to understand them better and it became my duty to save them.”<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109141132/636babf59c7e80680e077f07jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1050" height="722">Having worked in indentured servitude as a kamaiya for much of his life, he also gained a newfound respect and self-confidence after the incident. “I lost an eye, but this does not worry me. I found a new path in life and gained respect,” says Tharu, who is determined to continue his conservation activities.He has received many national awards and the internationally-renowned Abraham Conservation Award for his efforts. In 2010, he was even paid a visit by Leonardo DiCaprio whose foundation supports tigers conservation in Nepal. After their chat, DiCaprio took off his shades and gifted it to Tharu, who still treasures it. Villagers have persuaded him to stay on as secretary of the Gauri Forest User Group.Krishna Shah is still an active safari guide. He can now tell what kind of tigers to avoid during jungle walks: old tigers, females with cubs, and tigers who cannot find prey because of injuries.Sundarlal Chaudhari still grazes cattle in the same forest where he was attacked despite the danger. “I can’t keep them tied up, and there is nowhere else to go,” he says. Last week, a buffalo calf belonging to his daughter-in-law was killed by a tiger.Mayaram Khanal is recuperating at home, and the Bardiya National Park paid his hospital bills. But the debt he owes the buffaloes that saved his life is too great to pay back.

Close encounters with tigers in Nepal

Leaked letters from Korea’s Unification Church have revealed its extensive involvement in buying political and media influence worldwide, including links to Nepal’s parties and politicians. Documents obtained by the <a href="https://newstapa.org/eng">Korean Centre for Investigative Journalism</a> (Newstapa) and <a href="https://dunia-asia.org/leaked-true-mother-report-exposes-unification-church-influence-in-nepal-and-north-korea-outreach/">Dunia</a> contain correspondence to and from the controversial religious movement whose leader, 82-year-old <a href="https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/southkorea/politics/20251216/explainer-who-is-han-hak-ja-true-mother-at-center-of-unification-church-scandals">Hak Ja Han</a>, is currently on trial in Seoul for allegedly bribing the wife and associates of disgraced former president Yoon Suk Yeol.&nbsp; The letters and direct messages referenced in the investigation mention three former prime ministers: Madhav Kumar Nepal who has now joined the Nepali Communist Party, K P Oli of the Communist Party of Nepal UML (Unified Marxist-Leninist), and former Maoist ideologue Baburam Bhattarai.&nbsp; The documents detail financial support from the Unification Church (now known as Family Federation for World Peace and Unification) to Nepal Paribar Dal (Nepal Family Party) and its founder <a href="https://reviewnepal.com/national/dhakal-reelected-as-chair-of-pariwar-dal.html">Ek Nath Dhakal,</a> who is a staunch ally of the UML. On Sunday, Dhakal signed an MoU with K P Oli of the UML to cooperate in the March election and beyond. The leaked correspondence concerning Nepal spans the period between the <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/elections-of-by-for-men,4038">first federal elections in 2017</a> till the 2022 polls and contains emails between Dhakal and Yong Jeong Shik, Regional President for Asia of the Unification Church, with urgent requests for funds for campaigning and to support the UML.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20260124080120_63bb0a555b9f0676b1301b7a71e9cefda7f3eb69e5fa0ff1249a1bbeec0c17bf.png" data-media-id="editor_5" data-image-id="20260124080120_63bb0a555b9f0676b1301b7a71e9cefda7f3eb69e5fa0ff1249a1bbeec0c17bf" data-rendition-name="original" width="1280" height="598" loading="lazy" alt="Moonie money in Nepal's politics NT"> </figure>  ‘Regarding funding, I am truly sorry, but a minimum of $500,000 is required,’ one of the messages to Yong in the report says. ‘Furthermore, as the election is scheduled for December 7th [2017], I would be very grateful if I could receive it as soon as possible. The initial $500,000 was used for overall election expenses, and the additional $500,000 is intended for campaign activities for the Family Party and supporting key leaders.’ In addition, there are also letters requesting an additional $20,000 per month in ‘maintenance costs for the Nepal Family Party and preparations for the<a href="http://nepalitimes.com/banner/nepals-parties-forge-new-pre-poll-alliances"> 2022 election</a>’.&nbsp; Asked for a reaction to the allegations, Govinda Nath Mishra of the Nepal Paribar Party said: “This is an unnecessary smear campaign against our party. Parties doing good work are always linked to some foreign powers in Nepal to discredit them.” Ek Nath Dhakal has also denied that his party’s affiliation with the UML has anything to do with Unification Church donations. <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/Korean-movement-in-Nepal,2962">He told Nepali Times in an interview in 2016</a>: “The party has links to all faiths, as it has with the unification movement. The Nepal Family Party is a kind of conservative party with a manifesto that promotes family values, interfaith dialogue and harmony. There are 11 political parties supporting Prime Minister Oli. Nepal Family Party is just one of them.” <div class="embed-block"><div><div style="left: 0; width: 100%; height: 0; position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.25%;"><iframe src="https://cdn.iframe.ly/api/iframe?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fembed%2FMcGp_Mn4fwA%3Fsi%3DM3bVjAnbnelwKwAl&key=87ca3314a9fa775b5c3a7726100694b0" style="top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%; position: absolute; border: 0;" allowfullscreen scrolling="no" allow="accelerometer *; clipboard-write *; encrypted-media *; gyroscope *; picture-in-picture *; web-share *;"></iframe></div></div></div> In another update to Yong, Dhakal describes the UML’s election campaign in 2017 as ‘proceeding very successfully … it appears certain the Unified Marxist-Leninist will achieve a landslide victory’. Dhakal was not contesting directly as a candidate, but piggybacking on the UML <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/house-of-cards-6alq6pvi">which had put him on the proportional representation list</a>, ostensibly in return for campaign financing. He continues: ‘It is certain that I will be elected as a proportional representation member of the National Assembly due to a shortage of female candidates. I discussed the possibility of my election with Prime Minister Madhav and Prime Minister K P Oli … both have confirmed that I could be moved from 5th place [on the PR list] to 1st or 2nd if necessary.’&nbsp; After the 2017 election, the UML formed a coalition with the Maoists and Prime Minister Oli appointed Dhakal Minister for Peace and Reconstruction overseeing Nepal’s post-conflict and post-earthquake activities. During his tenure, Dhakal organised an ‘<a href="http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2018-12/01/c_137644390.htm">Asia-Pacific Summit 2018</a>’ in Kathmandu presided over by Hak Ja Han, wife of Rev Sun Myung Moon, founder of the Unification Church and Universal Peace Federation (UPF). The couple are known in the movement as ‘True Parents’ and Hak Ja Han is referred to as ‘True Mother’. Oli addressed the Kathmandu summit which was attended by 1,500 delegates, including Burmese leader Aung San Suu Kyi and Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen. The <a href="https://theannapurnaexpress.com/story/15201/">gathering drew criticism</a> for being a proselytisation exercise, prompting Oli to decline attending a ‘blessing’ ceremony by Hak Ja Han.&nbsp; Ever since, the ‘Holy Wine’ has entered Nepal's political lexicon, and is still used derogatorily to label politicians involved.&nbsp; Nepal Paribar Party’s Govinda Nath Mishra says: “Ek Nath Dhakal has become a member of the House of Representatives twice, and our party has since its inception been close to the UML. We are just continuing that cooperation for this election as well.”  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20260124080120_49ed56931f2bd97d75a5c9604e2d4f5cd3474177b302b13db5df2ccbe63994dd.png" data-media-id="editor_12" data-image-id="20260124080120_49ed56931f2bd97d75a5c9604e2d4f5cd3474177b302b13db5df2ccbe63994dd" data-rendition-name="original" width="1318" height="1204" loading="lazy" alt="Moonie money in Nepal's politics NT"> </figure>  The Unification Church has said that the leaked documents are not authentic and were unofficial records created by former Director General of the Unification Church’s International Headquarters Yun Young Ho to ‘flaunt his influence’. The Japanese branch of the Unification Church said in a statement this week: ‘After reviewing the documents believed to be the report in question, we have found factual inaccuracies were added or content modified.’ Milan Kumari Rajbanshi, deputy General-Secretary of the Nepal Paribar Party and former MP denied her party was funded by any outside source, and she was no aware of any correspondence between Dhakal and anyone else.&nbsp; She told Nepali Times: “After the September street protests we spoke to many political parties, including GenZ activists, but the UML was the closest to our values.” Rajbanshi will be campaigning in Jhapa-5 on behalf of K P Oli who will be contesting against former Kathmandu mayor Balen Shah. The Newstapa leak show Dhakal and the Unification Church worked behind the scenes in the 2017 election to influence the &nbsp;elections. One email from Dhakal references this: ‘(If) we can secure a majority in next year’s general election … our wish is to educate all parliamentarians for two years until 2020 and create a constitution centred on Cheon Il Guk.’ Cheon Il Guk (천일국) means ‘One Heavenly Kingdom’ and is the vision of a spiritual nation proclaimed by Sun Myung Moon and his Unification Church, and emphasises family values instead of individualism for global unity under a ‘Heavenly Parent’.&nbsp; The emails reveal that the Church was planning to convince Madhav Nepal and K P Oli to take all 150 coalition legislators to Bangkok to introduce them to its beliefs. That trip did not materialise, but the Church had earlier taken 20 Communist MPs to the Philippines and Thailand for ‘principle education’.&nbsp; In another email to Yong Jeong Shik, Dhakal describes Baburam Bhattarai as being ‘disillusioned with communism’ and that he proposed ‘gathering all minority parties to join the Family Party’. Bhattarai left the Maoists and is contesting from the Pragatisheel Loktantrik Party from his Gorkha constituency in March. Despite its connections with Nepal’s Communists, the Unification Church is known to support conservative politics around the world including through ownership of media like <a href="https://www.washingtontimes.com/">The Washington Times</a> newspaper.&nbsp; Founder Sun Myung Moon was deeply involved in pushing for Korean unification, and the Church has worked with Asian countries that have ties with North Korea. Documents show that the Unification Church had tried to get then UML Chair Madhav Kumar Nepal to Pyongyang, but the Nepal government supposedly under pressure from the South Korean, Japanese and US ambassadors got him to call it off. Madhav Nepal had also insisted that he meet Kim Jong Un, but the North Korean side had said it was not possible. But after Nepal left the UML to form the Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Socialist) he met the North Korean Ambassador in the presence of Ek Nath Dhakal to plan a visit in order to work towards Korean unification. A 11-member delegation composed of Nepal, Dhakal, MPs and a newspaper publisher visited North Korea in 2017 (pictured below).  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20260123040128_6690244be7aa18e24a4aef825935a7afcaa893b40191f712ab498105e06aaf51.jpg" data-media-id="editor_14" data-image-id="20260123040128_6690244be7aa18e24a4aef825935a7afcaa893b40191f712ab498105e06aaf51" data-rendition-name="original" width="2201" height="1148" loading="lazy" alt="Moonie money in Nepal's politics NT"> </figure>  METICULOUS ARCHIVE An extract from correspondence is indicative of the former prime minister’s links to the Unification Church: ‘Madhav Kumar Nepal … maintains a very close relationship with us and could become Prime Minister again at any time. There is no one who knows us as well or respects the Parents as much as former Prime Minister Madhav does … he is someone who regards the True Parents like God.’ The internal documents of the Unification Church obtained by Newstapa is called the ‘TM [True Mother] Special Report’ and appears to have been prepared for Hak Ja Han. The 3,212-page text provides a chronological account of the Church’s management of politicians internationally, its handling donations, and plans to expand political influence through its affiliated media outlets. The document is a meticulous archive apparently compiled by Yun Young Ho, the former Director General of the Unification Church’s International Headquarters, the organisation’s second-in-command.&nbsp; This suggests church affairs were reported directly to Hak Ja Han. Korean investigators are now focusing on whether Han merely received these reports or issued specific directives based on them. Yun testified during the trial in Seoul that the Church’s regional leaders and local partners would send daily field reports which he would synthesise into a ‘Special Report’ format to provide oral briefings to Han. Hak Ja Han therefore may have been personally involved in the Church’s operations in granular detail. Korean special prosecutors are viewing these documents as critical evidence in her trial to prove that she was directly involved in political lobbying. Last week, during a hearing on the Hak Ja Han bribery case, a regional Church leader admitted to personally drafting segments of the ‘True Parents Correspondence Report’ featured in the document. The ‘TM Special Report’ appears to be a compilation of internal documents reprocessed into a single file and includes emails and direct messaging. Certain periods are missing, leading to gaps in the narrative, raising the possibility that specific portions of the report may have been selectively curated or redacted. &nbsp; <h2>Both Koreas in Nepal</h2>  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2026012304018_962b3169d725dbd3dc820aab16a6ab8d3a083b55174558003d4ccfe97fe7789e.jpg" data-media-id="editor_15" data-image-id="2026012304018_962b3169d725dbd3dc820aab16a6ab8d3a083b55174558003d4ccfe97fe7789e" data-rendition-name="original" width="1750" height="1168" loading="lazy" alt="Moonie money in Nepal's politics NT"> </figure>  Buddhism spread northwards across the Himalaya from Nepal to China and Korea 1,000 years ago, but in the past decades two of Korea’s powerful ideologies have come to Nepal. Nepal’s leftist movement, most notably the Nepal Workers Peasants Party (NWPP) <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/Bhaktapur-dear-leader,3010">inspired by North Korea’s Kim Il Sung’s Juche Idea</a> espouses a nationalist agenda, and has a strong base in Bhaktapur. Meanwhile, South Korea’s Unification Church of Sun Myung Moon has influenced Nepal’s political, administrative and religious spheres.&nbsp; After establishment of Moon’s Universal Peace Federation (UPF) in 2005, the Church has a sizable presence in Nepal. The movement’s leader is Ek Nath Dhakal of the Nepal Paribar Party (right) who is affiliated with the UML and even served as a minister in a UML-Maoist coalition after being nominated as a PR member to Parliament.&nbsp; <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/Korean-movement-in-Nepal,2962">He told this paper in 2016</a>: “I am a Hindu, associated with the Unification Movement. The UPF staged one of its mass weddings at Dashrath Stadium in Kathmandu in 2017 (right). The movement recruits public figures like former president Bidya Devi Bhandari, Madhav Kumar Nepal and others as Ambassadors for Peace. Before he died in 2012 at age 92, Rev Moon had picked Nepal as a ‘model peace nation of God’. The Church says it embraces all religions, and does not even display the Christian cross at its places of worship.&nbsp; While young Nepalis follow South Korean pop culture fever, in Bhaktapur it is Kim Il Sung’s Juche Idea that is the dominant ideology. The Nepal Workers Peasants Party has won just about every district and local election from Bhaktapur, not so much for its politics, but because its representatives have performed well. Bhaktapur’s following of Kim Il Sung is based on Bijukchhe’s vision that his town be self-reliant and deliver development equitably.&nbsp; <h2>A worldwide web</h2>  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2026012304018_5c2949a3715b74f8992a6dcfc305fbaa817a0b834365c737bb81245762d74148.jpg" data-media-id="editor_18" data-image-id="2026012304018_5c2949a3715b74f8992a6dcfc305fbaa817a0b834365c737bb81245762d74148" data-rendition-name="original" width="1750" height="968" loading="lazy" alt="Moonie money in Nepal's politics"> </figure>  In 2022, the Unification Church (Family Federation for World Peace and Unification) arranged a meeting between Yoon Suk Yeol, who was then presidential candidate, and former US Vice President Mike Pence just before South Korean elections. The visit was timed for the ‘World Summit 2022’ hosted by the Universal Peace Federation (UPF), a Unification Church affiliate. The visit was widely covered by the media at the time, but a Newstapa investigation last year confirmed that the Church paid Pence $550,000 to visit Seoul. The visit was designed to bolster Yoon’s diplomatic and security credentials and appeal to religious voters. Yoon knew Pence was a devout Christian, and media at the time reported that both prayed before the meeting. Just like the UPF’s World Summit 2018 in Kathmandu, Cambodian PM Hun Sen was in attendance as was former UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. The welcome remark at the Summit was delivered by Yun Young Ho, then-Director General of the Unification Church’s World Headquarters. South Korean Special Prosecutors are currently investigating Yun for allegedly bribing former president Yoon Suk Yeol’s wife Kim Keon Hee.&nbsp; Newstapa also dug up Pence’s financial disclosures filed with the US Office of Government Ethics and the Federal Election Commission and found that Pence reported receiving $550,000 from the UPF for ‘a speaking engagement’ in Seoul in 2022 — an unusually hefty fee. Cambodian Premier Hun Sen has hosted K P Oli several times in Phnom Penh, once as prime minister in 2019, and again last year in August. There seems to be a similar nexus between Hun Sen, the UPF and former President Yoon and his wife Kim Keon Hee. When he became president in 2022, Yoon visited Cambodia with his wife, and South Korea doubled its development assistance to Cambodia to $1.5 billion. The Special Prosecutor in Seoul is investigating allegations that the Unification Church provided funds to Kim Keon Hee in helping a Mekong River project in Cambodia.

Moonie money in Nepal’s politics

The Kathmandu Valley has attracted an exceptional number of outstanding and accomplished foreigners over the decades, but few as extraordinary as Marilyn Silverstone (1929-1999).&nbsp; Frances Klatzel’s book A Portrait of Ourselves, Marilyn Silverstone: From Photojournalist to Buddhist Nun, is a fitting and fascinating biographical celebration of this American woman whose life of unusual choices took her, as the title suggests, from an affluent Jewish childhood in Scarsdale, New York to becoming an acclaimed and adventurous Magnum photographer.&nbsp; Roving the world, her camera captured many of the most iconic events of the 20th century, her images were published in Time, Life, Newsweek, Look, National Geographic, Paris Match, Vogue and other magazines. Following the teachings of Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, Marilyn Silverstone devoted the last twenty years of her eventful life to living quietly and practising Buddhism in Nepal. Ordained as a Buddhist nun, she took vows in the sanctified Solukhumbu precincts of Thubten Choling with Venerable Trulshik Rinpoche in the spring of 1977. Living in Kathmandu until her death in Shechen Monastery, which she helped create, Marilyn wrote: ‘When I look back over the years, although I did not know it at the time, ending my life as a Buddhist nun was logical and inevitable.’&nbsp; Ani Marilyn was a familiar figure amid the sacred spaces of the Valley, the lanes of Boudha and even Kathmandu’s drawing rooms during my early years in Nepal, a large smiling presence draped in maroon robes, dyed sneakers, slightly whiskered, robust.&nbsp; As a wedding gift she gave Tenzin and I an inscribed copy of her slim volume, Ocean of Life, aptly named for the span of her achievements and expansive embrace – editor, translator, writer, filmmaker, photographer, journalist and Buddhist nun. Marilyn’s nephew wrote: ‘Her legacy was that she was always herself no matter what chapter of her life that she was living.’  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20260122100124_70d489c3d161f59668f315ede60cbb213d365357b0a9f2d7aad3b537a14dcb5e.png" data-media-id="editor_0" data-image-id="20260122100124_70d489c3d161f59668f315ede60cbb213d365357b0a9f2d7aad3b537a14dcb5e" data-rendition-name="original" width="1164" height="1600" loading="lazy" alt="Ani Marilyn"> <figcaption>Ani Marilyn as a Tibetan Buddhist nun at Shechen Monastery in Boudha.</figcaption> </figure>  Working with a wide range of impeccable sources, Frances Klatzel has assembled first-hand the personal recollections and unsparing insights from Marilyn’s most intimate friends. One of these, Jane Abell Coon, wrote the Introduction. She was a well-known person in 1980s Kathmandu whose husband Carlton Coon served as American Ambassador to Nepal and she simultaneously as American Ambassador in Bangladesh.&nbsp; The book begins with a rare message from the 14th Dalai Lama and a touching Foreword by Venerable Rabjam Rinpoche. It ends with exquisite excerpts from a Buddhist religious tract that Marilyn had translated from its traditional Tibetan text. Marilyn’s initial trip to India was to photograph Ravi Shankar in 1955, the classical sitar maestro. Increasingly fascinated by ‘the complex and compassionate culture’ of Tibet, her Himalayan archives include images throughout India, Nepal, Sikkim and Bhutan.&nbsp; The first internationally accredited photojournalist to base herself in India, from 1959 Marilyn lived in Bombay then Delhi, with her lifelong partner Frank Moraes, the Goan journalist, writer, commentator and first Indian editor of the Times of India after Independence. INDIAN INFLUENCERS I remember being taken to meet the legendary Frank Moraes in 1973, by then politically exiled in Marilyn’s elegant but chaotic London house, a magnet for South Asian intellectuals. She was not there, but Frank’s son the poet Dom Moraes was slumped desultory on a sagging sofa. My impression of Frank was well-dressed, polite and slightly distracted. Marilyn’s talent for friendship and wide network of Indian influencers and princely connections gave her unique access to historic events, as well as recording refugees, rituals, droughts, floods, famines and funerals. In addition to maharajahs and global leaders, her images portray personal moments, ordinary people, unflinching pain and flashes of joy. She said: ‘In my job, the closer you get to people, the better off you are.’ This book is illustrated with a thrilling trove of pictures of and by Marilyn, many of which reflect the impact of Henri Cartier-Bresson who signed her up as one of the first women to join his prestigious Magnum photo cooperative.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20260122100124_6dfdef41da5945aea0a8bbd8c1514af5de2adb36361d4e20c29914c59f2039e0.png" data-media-id="editor_1" data-image-id="20260122100124_6dfdef41da5945aea0a8bbd8c1514af5de2adb36361d4e20c29914c59f2039e0" data-rendition-name="original" width="2124" height="1404" loading="lazy" alt="Ani Marilyn"> </figure>  Her assignments ranged across warzones in Vietnam, the Shah of Iran’s coronation, and Russian tanks rolling into Prague. Marilyn’s 1960s involved constant travel, her Magnum beat was the ‘Far East’, from Pakistan and Bangladesh to China, Korea, and Japan.&nbsp; With a knack at being in the right place at the right time, Marilyn was the only western woman journalist to record the arrival from Lhasa into ‘safety and exile’ of the young Dalai Lama in 1959. She was at Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru’s funeral in Delhi, the Chogyal of Sikkim’s marriage to Hope Cooke, and with Jacqueline Kennedy on a small boat at the Lake Palace of Udaipur.&nbsp; Marilyn snapped the Pope giving blessings in Bombay, Mother Teresa attending to the poor, and the Beatles on their way to meet the Maharishi. With Frank, she travelled to Africa and shot Emperor Haile Selassie in Ethiopia, Nigeria’s independence celebrations, and a very old and solar-topied Dr Albert Schweitzer in his jungle hospital in Gabon.&nbsp; A Portrait of Ourselves, Marilyn Silverstone: From Photojournalist to Buddhist Nun, is a highly recommended tribute to an inspirational life, told with discerning honesty and private perceptions by those who knew her best.&nbsp; Her monastic years living in Nepal continued to feature travel, hard work, undiminished curiosity, dogged fights for right, uncompromising support for others, disdain for conformity and battles with ill health, but all with her characteristic good humour. Marilyn leaves us with some sound advice in her own words: “I can say that I did it all. The secret though is just keep walking through life without analysing it too much or clinging to it too much. Just walk on.” &nbsp;&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20260122100140_dc0c465e462bd14e92b2a2e79b5349f23fa039bcda81cc02a9a70adbcee35c7b.jpg" data-media-id="editor_2" data-image-id="20260122100140_dc0c465e462bd14e92b2a2e79b5349f23fa039bcda81cc02a9a70adbcee35c7b" data-rendition-name="original" width="1136" height="702" loading="lazy" alt="marilyn silverstone"> </figure>

“Just walk on”

Bhairav is the fierce manifestation of Lord Shiva, and his strength is depicted in a fearsome face but he is also a protector and guardian. There are eight forms of Bhairav in Kathmandu, and they are all featured in Mukesh Shrestha’s exhibition Bhairav Bhav at Gallery 108 in Darbar Marg. The artist was moved to contemplate the violent September protests through this series of paintings.&nbsp; “The GenZ protests exposed the greedy and aggressive side of leaders in which many young Nepalis lost their lives. Bhairav teaches people that forms of aggression and peace can go hand in hand, and peace can be chosen,” Shrestha explains. The artworks on display have a distinct palette of yellow, black and white, symbolising peace even during turbulent times. “Yellow is an auspicious colour for Hindus and Buddhists, it also has religious significance,” he says. Each painting is imbued by the black walls of the gallery and spotlight with warm lights. Says gallery manager Pooja Mahato, “The backdrop is black deliberately so that the visitors’ focus goes more to the artwork and less on the surrounding.”  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2026012008018_ac2e3090a926cb57fca481d580d1c087b43d392299e2d99231a6044a05696964.jpg" data-media-id="editor_0" data-image-id="2026012008018_ac2e3090a926cb57fca481d580d1c087b43d392299e2d99231a6044a05696964" data-rendition-name="original" width="2784" height="3984" loading="lazy" alt="Bhairav art review"> </figure>  Each of the paintings depicts Bhairav’s face in the real form but the bodies are imagined by the artist. This distinction is also made by the use of colours on the face while the body is conspicuously black and white. As Bhairav is one of Lord Shiva’s forms, serpents are an essential part of the portraits. The pieces on Kal Bhairav of Kathmandu Darbar Square and Bagh Bhairav of Kirtipur ooze power from every angle. Kal Bhairav is the Lord of time, and the Bagh Bhairav represents the ferocity of the tiger. Meanwhile, Unmatta Bhairav, also known as Digambar sacrificed the greed for life and is depicted naked. Couples who do not have children are blessed with offspring if they worship this Bhairav avatar. Then there is Batuk Bhairav, the childish god with a happy face. The blue here creates a vibrant, ritualistic visage even as it emotes calmness. “It is believed that Bhairav came in this child-like form to fool the demons to destroy them, and is represented through small hands and feet,” explains Mahato.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2026012008018_e1f25fe3e0d9431df47cd8f76182649e969d511298c17c0c92179475e8008809.jpg" data-media-id="editor_1" data-image-id="2026012008018_e1f25fe3e0d9431df47cd8f76182649e969d511298c17c0c92179475e8008809" data-rendition-name="original" width="2120" height="3728" loading="lazy" alt="Bhairav art review"> </figure>  Shweta Bhairav's face is also depicted exactly the same as it is in Kathmandu Darbar Square. Its body includes the feet of Bhramayani Devi, one of the forms of Nava Durga. It is believed that this form of Bhairav is granted entry in Kathmandu only after the welcome of Bhramayani Devi.&nbsp; Shweta Bhairav was wrongly identified as the Akash Bhairav when it was chosen as the motif for Royal Nepal Airlines 60 years ago. Despite this, the carrier’s aircraft still carry the wrong Bhairav on their fuselage. Shanta Bhairav, meanwhile, entered Kathmandu Valley in the form of a human to meet his beloved, Lassi. After agreeing to take the role of the protector for children as many were lost, he was allowed to live in the Valley.&nbsp; The paintings also represent peace and tranquility: lotus flowers emerging from the heads of a male and female body, and military tanks below them. Says Mukesh Shrestha, “Each artwork is a journey from ignorance to knowledge. Whatever we think, we become. If we think of peace, we become peaceful, but if we think of destruction, we become destructive.” Bhairav Bhav By Mukesh Shrestha Gallery 108, Darbar Marg Until 31 January 11am-7pm (Mondays by appointment)

The power of peace

The pale green ice on the top of the lake gleams in the pale January sunlight. The dark waters beneath are visible through the translucent frozen surface. This is Thulagi Glacial Lake at the foot of Mt Manaslu in central Nepal, classified as one of the <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/danger-nepal-s-glacial-lakes-are-filling-up">most dangerous lakes </a>to appear in the Himalaya due to climate heating.&nbsp; The place is breathtaking not just because of its 4,050m altitude, but the scenery all around. The beauty belies the threat this expanding lake poses downstream along the Marsyangdi Valley. &nbsp; The lake lies at the terminus of the 4.5km long Thulagi Glacier. The local Gurung inhabitants call it Dona Tal. They say it started appearing in the 1960s. Local guide Chandra Bahadur Gurung, 47, has been ferrying trekkers to the spot for about 20 years.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20260122100136_4d3c25c9b4f6eaff3e538b36346471c301d38338514bfdfa9ee63ccd77d20489.jpg" data-media-id="editor_1" data-image-id="20260122100136_4d3c25c9b4f6eaff3e538b36346471c301d38338514bfdfa9ee63ccd77d20489" data-rendition-name="original" width="1500" height="1000" loading="lazy" alt="Thulagi glof"> <figcaption>Yaks graze below Thulagi Himal (7,059m) and Mt Manaslu (8,163m) along the Dona Khola that drains the lake.</figcaption> </figure>  “Dona used to be small, but it has now grown bigger,” he says, gesturing to how the glacier has receded and shrunk. Trekkers used to be able to go to the other side, but now the glacier is riddled with ponds and boulders falling off the moraine that make it dangerous.&nbsp; Gurung adds rather matter-of-factly: “The lake will burst sooner or later.”&nbsp; Kathmandu-based International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) has been studying Thulagi for the past two decades. Topographic maps from the 1960s and early satellite images show the lake being much smaller.&nbsp; When the <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/nepal-s-resource-curse">Marsyangdi Hydropower Project</a> project was being built in 1994, the German Institute of Geology and Natural Resources with the Department of Hydrology and Meteorology measured the lake to be already 2km in length. More recent surveys show the lake has increased its size since then to more than 1 sq km. &nbsp; The lake is among 47 <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/meltpools-in-the-himalaya">dangerous glacial lakes in Nepal and Tibet </a>&nbsp;identified by ICIMOD in 2020 due to its size, the risk of landslides and avalanches, and the gradual collapse of the lake’s ice-core moraine dam.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20260122100136_9b9fea3665494614c2d89e4202c735fd642a13552d67ca2be3da5c390320ca9b.jpg" data-media-id="editor_4" data-image-id="20260122100136_9b9fea3665494614c2d89e4202c735fd642a13552d67ca2be3da5c390320ca9b" data-rendition-name="original" width="1500" height="1000" loading="lazy" alt="Thulagi glof"> <figcaption>Local guide Chandra Bahadur Gurung has been taking trekkers up to Thulagi Lake for 20 years.</figcaption> </figure>  In 2018 a team of glaciologists led by Umesh K Haritasya <a href="https://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/10/5/798">published a journal article</a> about the evolution of three glacial lakes including Thulagi, Lower Barun, and Imja. Even back in 1976, Thulagi was twice the size of <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/from-nepali-press/Diverting-danger,3172">Imja glacial lake</a> in the Khumbu and six times the size of the Lower Barun. The team measured the lake’s depth at 79m, and calculated that it held 36.1 million m3 of water. Since then, Thulagi has been growing at a slower rate than the other two lakes because it is shielded by shadows of mountains. There is also not as much glacial calving in the narrow valley.&nbsp; Nonetheless, scientists and experts have long warned that a Glacial Lake Outburst Flood (GLOF) from Thulagi poses a big risk to four hydropower projects on the Marsyangdi and settlements like Besisahar and Dumre (map).  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20260125130136_eac3ccf38d2f91619825ab977bb21ea3eee84d6e87939721f9a8dbb7f0f22504.jpg" data-media-id="editor_7" data-image-id="20260125130136_eac3ccf38d2f91619825ab977bb21ea3eee84d6e87939721f9a8dbb7f0f22504" data-rendition-name="original" width="2076" height="1444" loading="lazy" alt="Thulagi map"> </figure>  The lake feeds into Dona Khola, a tributary of the Marsyangdi where the 49.9MW Dona Khola hydropower project is being built at a cost of Rs10 billion. Another 42MW Super Dona Khola project is planned on the river. “One of the trigger points that could lead to a glacial lake outburst could be the steep lateral moraine, which might be weakened by rapidly melting permafrost,” says Scott Watson, a University of Leeds researcher who was part of the team that conducted the 2018 study. Locals are already witnessing what Watson describes. They say that it was easy to reach Thulagi’s headwaters even until a few years ago, but that is now dangerous because of ice and rockfalls.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20260122100136_217a1951a620e8efe11e5936600be172874976a0c04a1031495cf6687ce8f82c.jpg" data-media-id="editor_8" data-image-id="20260122100136_217a1951a620e8efe11e5936600be172874976a0c04a1031495cf6687ce8f82c" data-rendition-name="original" width="1426" height="1070" loading="lazy" alt="Thulagi glof"> <figcaption>The 50MW Upper Marsyangdi Hydropower Project station in Lamjung. A Thulagi Lake outburst would damage four hydropower projects on the Marsyangdi and its tributaries.</figcaption> </figure>  GLOF WARNING&nbsp; Glaciologist Rijan Bhakta Kayastha has been studying Thulagi since 1994, and was part of a team that discovered that the lake’s terminal moraine was made up of rocky soil on top and ice at its core.&nbsp; In 2020, Kayastha's team published a study that modelled the route of a possible GLOF. They found that if the lake burst, it would take 2.5 hours to reach Dharapani, and 4 hours to reach Bahundanda 39km downstream. The surge would be 13.7m high at Dharapani and 15m by the time it reached Taal, the village most at risk because it is situated only a few metres above the Marsyangdi. ‘Considering the size of the Thulagi glacial lake and its dam, it seems unlikely that a rock fall or avalanche would cause the lake to breach the moraine dam,” concluded the study. “But an earthquake or climate change would require a separate study. At present, there is no immediate or imminent threat of this glacier bursting.” MEMORIES OF 2021 Across Manang valley, residents are haunted by the memories of the <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/himalayan-floods-a-sign-of-worse-to-come">2021 flood on the Marsyangdi</a> that swept away parts of Chame, Dharapani, Naso, and Taal villages.&nbsp; Kamarkali Gurung, grew up on the banks of the Marsyangdi in Dharapani, and had never imagined that the tranquil river she knew could become such a monster. She had saved up to build her own three-story property with 17 rooms.&nbsp; Her family was away that June evening when the flood swept away her hotel. “Not even a spoon remained, everything was gone,” says Kamarkali. “Losing the hotel hurt like losing a loved one. The Marsyangdi flows through my house now, I can never go back.”&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20260122100136_925087c286f18a0374f5d2fae5cc528b6e8b5a55e02813e470c49b923b4f193a.jpg" data-media-id="editor_10" data-image-id="20260122100136_925087c286f18a0374f5d2fae5cc528b6e8b5a55e02813e470c49b923b4f193a" data-rendition-name="original" width="1500" height="1000" loading="lazy" alt="Thulagi glof"> <figcaption>SURVIVORS: Kamarkali Gurung's hotel was swept away by the 2021 flood on the Marsyangdi. She now operates her hotel from a rented house in Dharapani.</figcaption> </figure>  Surendra Gurung, also a hotelier, was in Dharapani the night of the flood, and can still remember the fear as the river roared towards the village. “I did not know if I would live or die,” he says.&nbsp; Sirantal village was merely 10m above the Marsyangdi, and was completely destroyed by the flood. Thirty-two people were rescued by army helicopters, and most of the families have now relocated to Taal.&nbsp; One of them is Singha Bahadur Gurung who also ran a lodge for 20 years. “We did not have to buy anything except rice, the soil in Sirantal was so fertile,” he remembers.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20260122100136_9da9290e59a6d565ae9cb81a850f725ccd937fd658d0adfabccfe4114ec94bed.jpg" data-media-id="editor_11" data-image-id="20260122100136_9da9290e59a6d565ae9cb81a850f725ccd937fd658d0adfabccfe4114ec94bed" data-rendition-name="original" width="1500" height="1000" loading="lazy" alt="Thulagi glof"> <figcaption>Singha Bahadur Gurung operated a lodge in Sirantal before the flood swept it away in 2021.</figcaption> </figure>  Marsyangdi now flows through where Singha Gurung’s village used to be. “Ever since the flood, I am terrified every time it rains from June to August,” he says.&nbsp; The 2021 flood was during the monsoon, and was caused by unusually heavy rainfall in the catchment. A GLOF on the Marsyangdi would be much more destructive. Roshni Ghale, 46, runs a hotel in Taal, and escaped with her family to a nearby cave as the flood engulfed nearby homes.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20260122100136_7a6b74a4c33b597e2815b035ec5d56ffea35923016518f0fb35bcc4fc925dccd.jpg" data-media-id="editor_12" data-image-id="20260122100136_7a6b74a4c33b597e2815b035ec5d56ffea35923016518f0fb35bcc4fc925dccd" data-rendition-name="original" width="1500" height="1000" loading="lazy" alt="Thulagi glof"> <figcaption>Roshni Ghale spent six months after the 2021 flood rebuilding her hotel in Taal. Tourism has steadily picked up in the four years since the flood. </figcaption> </figure>  “We spent the next six months after the flood rebuilding our lives, going to bed hungry many a night,” she recalls. In the four years since, tourism has picked up again, but the<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/the-unseen-wounds-of-climate-disasters"> community is still traumatised</a>. In the wake of the floods, the government had begun talks to rehabilitate and repatriate the community, but until now, they have been <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/multimedia/from-one-disaster-to-the-next">empty promises</a>. In any case, the people here, most of them experienced hoteliers whose livelihood depends on tourism, are unwilling to uproot their lives and start over elsewhere.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20260122100136_9a13c863422806eefdcd826ed12f9906e2372bd8f60f83c5351652eccf050384.jpg" data-media-id="editor_15" data-image-id="20260122100136_9a13c863422806eefdcd826ed12f9906e2372bd8f60f83c5351652eccf050384" data-rendition-name="original" width="1500" height="844" loading="lazy" alt="Thulagi glof"> <figcaption>Most of the survivors of the 2021 flood on the Marsyangdi from villages like Sirantal have relocated to the upstream village of Taal, which itself was hit by a monsoon flood in 2021.</figcaption> </figure>  DISASTER PREPAREDNESS Even though studies have assessed the risk of GLOFs in Manang and across Nepal, and warned about the damage that such floods could cause, it took until 2021 for early warning systems to be installed on the banks of the Marsyangdi and in the town of Taal.&nbsp; But beyond that, there has been little preparedness. Early warning systems and disaster preparedness are necessary not just along the Marsyangdi but also at and around Thulagi itself, say experts. Locals here are becoming increasingly aware of the risk posed by the expanding lake up the valley, but are reluctant to leave homes and communities that they have lived in for generations. The hydropower projects on the Dona Khola promises jobs, and the local government is upgrading the hiking trail to Thulagi Lake which has become a tourist attraction. “Manang now gets <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/too-little-snow-too-much-rain">too little snow and too much rain</a>, and the Marsyangdi charts its own course,” says Min Rashi Gurung, chair of Ward-1 of Naso rural municipality, where Thulagi is located. &nbsp; But help may be on the way.Last year, the Green Climate Fund (GCF) approved a $36.1 million grant to help Nepal reduce risk of GLOFs in Thulagi and four other glacial lakes. The project is managed by the government and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). The project is set to begin next fiscal year, and will reduce the water level in the four glacial lakes including Thulagi, similar to what was done in Imja and Tso Rolpa, says Dinkar Kayastha at the Department of Hydrology and Meteorology. &nbsp; Centre for Investigative Journalism - Nepal

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