<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109101132/636b742e9c7e80680e06237djpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1400" height="1050"/><figcaption>Pangolin that escaped from a community forest in Sankhuwasaba district in June 2019 rolls into its scales for safety before being released back into the wild. Pangolins are the world's most trafficked mammals and are also smuggled from Nepal to China across the Himalaya. Photo: SUJAN BAJRACHARYA/RSS</figcaption></figure>China is world's biggest market for the illegal trade in wildlife for food and traditional medicine, and its blanket ban announced this week may actually save some endangered species from extinction.The Chinese government said the ban on selling wild animal in markets would be in force ‘until the end of national epidemic’. However, conservationists including Chinese academics, are pushing for a permanent ban and believe the outbreak can be an opportunity to conserve endangered Asian and African wildlife.“A temporary ban does not address the larger problem, there will always be a risk of infections like coronavirus as long as there is demand for wildlife in China,” says Tulshi Laxmi Suwal of Nepal’s Small Mammal Conservation and Research Foundation who did her PhD on pangolins from National Pintung University in Taiwan.Read also: <a style="font-size: 15px; letter-spacing: 0.01em;" href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/why-nepal-must-watch-about-coronavirus-but-not-panic/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Why Nepal must watch Coronavirus, but not panic</a>, Sameer M DixitEarly studies have pointed to bats as the source of the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/why-nepal-must-watch-about-coronavirus-but-not-panic/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">2019 novel coronavirus</a> -- now named Covid-19 -- and scientists are trying to figure out how it jumped from animals to humans. The origin of the epidemic has been traced to a seafood market in Wuhan that also sold wild animals.However, other Chinese researchers on Friday said that <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/protecting-pangolins-from-being-eaten-to-extinction/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">pangolins</a>  the world's most trafficked mammal, might be the missing link between bats and humans.African and Asian <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/lesser-known-endangered-species/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">pangolins</a> are hunted for the meat, considered a delicacy by locals. Its scales are used extensively as an ingredient in Chinese traditional medicine. All eight species of the mammals found in Asia and Africa are on the endangered list."Bats alone are known to carry anywhere between 40-200 different viruses. Eating meat of wild animals or close interaction with one can transmit the virus to humans," says Sanjan Thapa who is pursuing PhD on bats at China’s Quangchau University.Read also: <a style="font-size: 15px; letter-spacing: 0.01em;" href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/a-nepali-in-beijing-during-coronavirus-scare/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">A Nepali in Beijing during coronavirus scare</a>, Rastraraj BhandariWhatever the mode of transmission, the latest outbreak has once again brought to the forefront the rise of zoonotic diseases and its critical association with flourishing illegal wildlife trade, especially in China.There is a fear that the Covid-19 epidemic will push many in China to resort to powdered rhino horn as a cure for the flu. Rhinos poaching in Africa and India already feeds the demand in traditional Chinese medicine.Covid-19 has killed at least 1,300 people as of Thursday, more than SARS in 2002-2003, despite its lower fatality rate of 2.2% against 9.6% for SARS. The newer virus, however, is the more contagious and has spread to 28 countries with over 60,000 confirmed cases.Before <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/a-nepali-in-beijing-during-coronavirus-scare/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">the Covid-19 epidemic</a>, there were SARS and Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) that also originated from animals. The SARS virus moved from bats to civets and then to humans. Camels were the source of the MERS virus in 2012 in West Asia. Ebola outbreak (2013-2016) was also traced to bats.Experts believe that the coronavirus scare will also lead to decline in poaching and trafficking of wildlife in Nepal, which is on the traditional route for trafficking of endangered species from India to China and has <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/better-nepal-china-connectivity-helps-wildlife-smugglers/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">flourished as a transit hub</a> for smuggling of pangolin scales, rhino horns, tiger and leopard skin and elephant tusks.“Once the demand in China goes down, poaching and smuggling here in Nepal will also decline. Conservation efforts in Nepal will gain a lot if a permanent ban on wildlife trade is placed in China,” adds Suwal. “This is also a good time to create awareness about the higher risk of zoonotic diseases on those involved in the illicit trade so that they are discouraged to continue.”According to District Forest Office Kathmandu, 1,798 body parts of 10 wildlife species destined for China were confiscated in the last eight years. Of those, 1,468 belonged to different species of birds, 94 to <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/city-for-transshipment-of-wildlife,3424" target="_blank" rel="noopener">red pandas</a>  92 to leopards and 42 to pangolins. Nepal Police has filed 880 cases against poachers in the past 18 years.Says Sindhu Dhungana of Ministry of Forest and Environment: “National and international coordination is essential to control wildlife crime and impossible to do so without a cross-border collaboration between Nepal, India and China.”With additional reporting by Mukesh Pokhrel.

Sonia Awale

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Coronavirus outbreak may curb wildlife trafficking

<figure><a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/Wuhan-coronavirus-spread-worldwide-in-map-NT.jpg" data-elementor-open-lightbox="yes"></a></figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109101120/636b71a89c7e80680e0600e2jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1456" height="793"/><figcaption>The worldwide spread of the Wuhan coronavirus as of 31 January 2020.</figcaption>The ongoing outbreak of the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/a-nepali-in-beijing-during-coronavirus-scare/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">2019 novel coronavirus in China</a>, also called the Wuhan coronavirus, has now affected at least 17 countries. Approximately 6,000 cases have been reported with the majority being diagnosed in China.The total fatalities have crossed 130, a majority of them in the Hubei Province in which Wuhan is located. Nepal has reported its first confirmed case: of a student studying in China who had been visiting Nepal when diagnosed.Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/a-nepali-in-beijing-during-coronavirus-scare/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">A Nepali in Beijing during coronavirus scare</a>, Rastraraj BhandariViruses of the coronavirus family have historically caused diseases of the respiratory tract in human populations worldwide. Recent outbreaks included the <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=2664#.XjFpRjIzaUk" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) in 2002</a> and the Middle Eastern Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) in 2012. Both affected thousands of people and were fatal in some cases.SARS killed 10% of infected individuals while MERS was fatal in 37% of the infected population. The current fatality rate due to the Wuhan Coronavirus is 2.2%. If we are to describe this statistic in reverse, about 98 percent of those infected with this virus do not die.The question then is, why is there so much concern regarding this outbreak, given the relatively low mortality rate in comparison to previous coronavirus outbreaks?The first reason is that the <a href="https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Wuhan coronavirus is ‘novel’.</a> This term is used in viral epidemiology to indicate a new strain, one which has not been detected previously in the population. Scientists therefore do not have adequate information regarding the characteristics of the virus to provide evidence-informed public health instructions on containment and treatment.Second, unlike SARS and <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/mers/index.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">MERS</a>, this virus has an incubation period of up to 14 days and asymptomatic infected individuals can transmit the disease to others during that time. Even infected individuals who show improvement can continue to transmit the virus.The R0 (pronounced ‘r naught’) value of this virus is estimated at 3, meaning that an infected person on average will transmit to three other persons. This is considered a high infectivity number, but still lower than that of SARS or MERS.The Chinese authorities have put in place <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-51236450" target="_blank" rel="noopener">strict measures in Wuhan</a> to try to contain the spread of the virus. However, this may not be enough as many infected individuals might have already traveled out of town by the time the measures were put in.<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109101120/636b71ab9c7e80680e0600e3jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="640" height="427"><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109101120/636b71ae9c7e80680e0600e4jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="640" height="427"><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109101124/636b71b29c7e80680e0600e5jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="640" height="427"><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109101124/636b71b69c7e80680e0600e6jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="640" height="427">                                              Photos: BIKRAM RAIWuhan has a population of 10 million, and many had begun to travel in advance of the Chinese New Year this week. Experts at Imperial College London have estimated infected population numbers to be already at around at 100,000.We can therefore expect more cases around the world as infected individuals travel and transmit the disease. However, once again, the question emerges of what the reported fatalities so far are among this large number of infected individuals. Could it be that the virus is spreading but not causing too many deaths?Nepal has seen regular outbreaks of respiratory diseases including seasonal influenza, ‘avian influenza’ and ‘swine flu’. The Nepali media often reports cases of ‘unknown viral disease’. The Nepal government had established screening centres for the coronavirus at airport and border checkpoints even before the first infected person was diagnosed in Tibet on Monday.The National Public Health Laboratory is working with private hospitals and laboratories to provide timely and accurate diagnostics of the Wuhan coronavirus with technical support from the World Health Organization (WHO).Cases are being referred to Sukraraj Tropical Infectious Diseases Hospital as the focal center and the Epidemiology and Disease Control Division is monitoring signs of possible outbreaks in country. The Ministry of Health and Population has directed all private hospitals around country to have ventilator supported ICUs to be on standby should those be required.The state mechanism appears to have learnt from weaknesses is showed during the SARS and H1N1 (swine flu) outbreaks of the past. However, accurate clinical diagnosis of this disease is going to be a challenge given the likelihood of infected individuals arriving at checkpoints showing no symptoms and because individuals infected with other viruses like influenza or other weaker strains may show similar symptoms as those infected by the Wuhan coronavirus.Screening is the only way of identifying the maximum number of cases entering the country and preventing those from infecting the population. There have been no further coronavirus infection cases reported in Nepal since 25 January. The first case, reported on that day, is so far the only one.Global media reporting of this outbreak has focused on fatality rather than recovery, and appears to have failed to notice that the WHO, with its expertise and access to data, has not yet declared the Wuhan coronavirus outbreak a public health emergency.The experience of having made the ‘premature and hasty’ decision to term the 2009 influenza A (H1N1) – or swine flu – outbreak a pandemic still being fresh, this time WHO has decided to monitor the situation closely before making any decision in this regard.The WHO has focused on China as a priority for action while observing rest of the world. This does not mean we can be complacent, as the threat of the virus mutating into a more severe form is real. However, it also does not help to panic. We need to look at the numbers, listen to experts in the field and move ahead accordingly.Sameer M Dixit is a public health research scientist at the <a href="http://www.cmdn.org.np/">Centre for Molecular Dynamics Nepal</a>.<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109101124/636b71b99c7e80680e0600e7jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="126" height="145">

Why Nepal must watch Coronavirus, but not panic

<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109101120/636b71809c7e80680e0600d4jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1440" height="1080"/><figcaption>Peking University campus on the 26th of January. Photo: MADISON PLASTER</figcaption></figure>For the past week, I have been in a voluntary lockdown in Beijing because of the rapid spread of the coronavirus in China. A trip to the supermarket to stock up on supplies felt like being in a post zombie apocalyptic breakout, not waiting for the infected to attack you but actively making a run when someone coughed or sneezed. Relying on homemade noodles, I am looking forward to flying out of Beijing soon with no knowledge on when I will be back as many universities in Beijing have requested students not to return until further notice.As seen in <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK92479/" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK92479/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1580228862390000&amp;usg=AFQjCNF3tSZYxe_Ww_d6Hv2DoRvSoKHD5Q">China’s 2002 SARS pandemic</a> that infected more than 5,300 people and killed 349 nationwide, the government has yet again relied on putting almost 50 million people in quarantine to contain the crisis. According to <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S2VoEvDEuxw" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v%3DS2VoEvDEuxw&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1580228862390000&amp;usg=AFQjCNHxS4nKpuTtjHXhJHlS4zi-tjlDMQ">news</a> from the BBC, as on January 26th, the number of people killed in China has risen to 81 with almost 3,000 confirmed ill.Embassies continue to work for the wellbeing of their citizens, and neighbouring countries such as Mongolia and North Korea are reported to have <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/report-mongolia-closes-border-china-amid-virus-fears-68557875" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/report-mongolia-closes-border-china-amid-virus-fears-68557875&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1580228862390000&amp;usg=AFQjCNE4MB58BpGrDibXc8rfZpEgAZtTvw">closed down borders</a> with China. Acknowledging the uniqueness and severity of the situation as people were traveling for Lunar New Year, the Chinese government has extended the Lunar New Year holidays and both public and private sectors are adding buffer time periods before things start moving business as usual.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109101120/636b71839c7e80680e0600d5jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1125" height="1500"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>Like many crises situations, there seems to be more unknowns than knowns. While Wuhan seafood market was initially believed to be the source of the novel virus, a <a href="https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(20)30183-5/fulltext" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(20)30183-5/fulltext&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1580228862390000&amp;usg=AFQjCNF3MXldTizCebbsdGu1o3RPlNtrjw">new study</a> published in <a href="https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/home" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/home&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1580228862390000&amp;usg=AFQjCNGSNtrH9F-1Q6aP25WKdl9kI4WfIw">The Lancet</a> of 41 hospitalised patients who had confirmed infections challenges that hypothesis. According to an <a href="https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2020/01/wuhan-seafood-market-may-not-be-source-novel-virus-spreading-globally" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2020/01/wuhan-seafood-market-may-not-be-source-novel-virus-spreading-globally&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1580228862390000&amp;usg=AFQjCNFtb1KBIlj4mlVhbjLL_50gOHu5yQ">article published</a> in the <a href="https://science.sciencemag.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://science.sciencemag.org/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1580228862390000&amp;usg=AFQjCNFc4FOYJSQSQtW3Iv0WItiwgvZqLw">Science</a>, Daniel Lucey, an infectious disease specialist at the University of Georgetown, asserts that “The virus came into that marketplace before it came out of that marketplace.”Transparency from the government in reporting the crisis also continues to be questioned within and beyond China. While state run media channels such as CGTN are showing hundreds of medical personnel <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ydphq5uA_Jg" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v%3Dydphq5uA_Jg&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1580228862390000&amp;usg=AFQjCNFO7K2xW_laJTA2asovWvLK4zJC1Q">voluntarily traveling to Wuhan</a> out of a sense of duty to the nation, and a <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VbA2PRYsakA" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v%3DVbA2PRYsakA&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1580228862390000&amp;usg=AFQjCNGV9x-Kx5xOlevsbCmyhYdOFFvrgw">wonderfully staged case</a> of people recovering from the virus and heading back home, people continue to question the legitimacy of the magnitude of the crisis as reported from the Chinese government.While <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK92479/" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK92479/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1580228862390000&amp;usg=AFQjCNF3tSZYxe_Ww_d6Hv2DoRvSoKHD5Q">previous experiences suggest</a>, be it during the air pollution crisis in 2008 or the 2002 SARS pandemic, that China has not been the most transparent in reporting crisis, the rise in social media and the internet means that complete lack of transparency from the government might not be just impossible but also counterproductive.https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=2&amp;v=ydphq5uA_Jg&amp;feature=emb_logoBut in fleeing China for Nepal, I cannot question but wonder if I am safer in Beijing than I am in Nepal. A day after the first coronavirus case was confirmed in Nepal, two more suspected cases have emerged. While countries around the world are figuring out the best response mechanism to contain the crisis, Nepali authorities appear particularly unprepared.The Epidemiology and Disease Control Division reportedly chose not to speak to the media, in following the orders from the Ministry of Health.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109101120/636b71869c7e80680e0600d6jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1080" height="1440"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>The rudimentary screening mechanisms alongside the lack of human resources and technology at the country’s only international airport needs no mention. And while China is <a href="https://news.sky.com/story/coronavirus-china-to-build-two-wuhan-hospitals-in-under-three-weeks-11917336" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://news.sky.com/story/coronavirus-china-to-build-two-wuhan-hospitals-in-under-three-weeks-11917336&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1580228862390000&amp;usg=AFQjCNHsoNgF7mWsi-yXGbB-mYgF5dsBeQ">building two health facilities</a> with enough space for around 2,300 patients over the next few weeks, the Sukraraj Tropical and Infectious Disease Hospital in Teku lacks even a <a href="https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1219763/two-more-coronavirus-cases-suspected-in-nepal" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1219763/two-more-coronavirus-cases-suspected-in-nepal&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1580228862390000&amp;usg=AFQjCNHBbq7QdxT_FH6WsvrO7kZzHAEVOQ">dedicated isolation ward</a>.It is disheartening to see fellow friends at university hear from their respective embassies whilst I was forwarded with a “do and don’t” list issued by the Nepal Embassy from a WeChat group. It is not that Nepali people expect a lot from their governments, but I can’t help but contemplate why I feel safer in the hotspot of a global pandemic than I would at my own home country.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VbA2PRYsakA&amp;feature=emb_logoGrappling with this idea has been difficult, but it also serves as a reminder for the very reasons why we must continue to fight to contribute to the development of Nepal in every way possible.Rastraraj Bhandari is currently pursuing a Masters in Economics and China Studies at the Yenching Academy of Peking University in Beijing, China. <img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109101120/636b71899c7e80680e0600d7jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="175" height="173">

A Nepali in Beijing during coronavirus scare

Violations of Nepal’s airspace during WWII

In 2025, Nepal’s Ministry of Tourism <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/the-everest-industry" target="_blank">added six new 8,000m peaks </a>to those listed on its website. These are subsidiary summits of <a href="https://explorersweb.com/kangchenjungas-challenging-confusing-subpeaks/" target="_blank">Kangchenjunga</a> and <a href="https://explorersweb.com/through-the-unknown-to-the-impossible-lhotse-middle/" target="_blank">Lhotse</a>, which some view as insufficiently independent to be called separate peaks. In 2024, the international mountaineering federation (UIAA) responded to a request by the Nepal Mountaineering Association (NMA) and the government to officially recognise these peaks. While recognising that ‘there is no one definition of a “mountain” or a “peak” or a “top” or “point” in topographic terms’, and encouraging further debate the UIAA’s opinion was that the 8,000m peaks should continue to the ‘Classic 14’, first completed by Reinhold Messner in 1986. The degree of prominence and isolation of <a href="https://www.climbing.com/news/new-8000-meter-mountains-nepal/?scope=initial" target="_blank">the six new peaks </a>varies, with Yalung Kang having the strongest claim to being a separate peak with a prominence of 135m, but they are all separate enough to be included on some peak-bagging lists. The UIAA’s own list of 4,000m summits in the European Alps includes Punta Giordani with a prominence of only 6m. Whatever the case for the six peaks being geographically separate mountains, they represent significant climbing challenges. They are not minor tops that can simply be ‘bagged’ on route to a main summit. In the case of <a href="https://explorersweb.com/through-the-unknown-to-the-impossible-lhotse-middle/" target="_blank">Lhotse Middle and Lhotse Shar</a>, no one has ever managed to traverse between them and Lhotse itself.  <figure><img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20260107080144_881321a6e46818beb7bbd4fe6f21589d89d19bf77ae8218474d373ef7ab0c431.png" data-media-id="editor_5" data-image-id="20260107080144_881321a6e46818beb7bbd4fe6f21589d89d19bf77ae8218474d373ef7ab0c431" data-rendition-name="original" width="2888" height="1590" loading="lazy" alt="New 8,000ers"><figcaption>Nepal’s 8 existing 8,000ers: Chomolungma 8,848.86, Kangchenjunga 8,586, Lhotse 8,516, Makalu 8,485, Manaslu 8,163, Dhaulagiri 8,167, Annapurna 8,091, Cho Oyu 8,201. Photo: GOOGLE EARTH PRO</figcaption></figure>   <figure><img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20260107080144_27bf905c1a559c46819dc96ca33d22c27fc301d415fc034f26b8acd105c12da7.png" data-media-id="editor_6" data-image-id="20260107080144_27bf905c1a559c46819dc96ca33d22c27fc301d415fc034f26b8acd105c12da7" data-rendition-name="original" width="1750" height="976" loading="lazy" alt="New 8,000ers"><figcaption>Nepal has listed six additional 8,000ers: Yalung Kang (8,505, Yalung Kang West 8,077, Kanchenjunga Central (8,473, Kanchenjunga South 8,476, Lhotse Middle 8,410, and Lhotse Shar 8,400. Photo: KUNDA DIXIT</figcaption></figure>  Several fine routes have already been climbed on these mountains, such as Slovenians Andrej Štremfelj and Marko Prezelj’s alpine style ascent of the South-West Ridge of Kangchenjunga South. The six peaks have not yet achieved universal acceptance, but it is possible that climbing an expanded list of 20 eight-thousanders could become a new mountaineering challenge, just as the 14 classic peaks are today. It is therefore interesting to analyse who is currently closest to achieving this goal, using data from The Himalayan Database and other Internet research. The first conclusion of my analysis is that these six additional peaks have received far less attention than the classic 14 eight-thousanders. One of them, Yalung Kang West, has never been climbed or even attempted: probably because it is a subsidiary peak of <a href="https://explorersweb.com/kangchenjungas-challenging-confusing-subpeaks/" target="_blank">Yalung Kang</a> which is itself a subsidiary peak. The other five peaks have seen a total of 138 ascents. Just 101 people have ever climbed one or more of the additional peaks, which compares with 354 people who climbed Everest on a single day: 23 May 2019. Russian Evgeni Vinogradski is unique in having climbed five of the six new peaks. He has also climbed six of the classic 8,000ers, giving him a total of 11 out of the 20 peaks on the expanded list. Vinogradski is now 80 and is unlikely to increase this total. Several other former Soviet climbers have climbed three of the new peaks, having participated in the 1989 traverse of the four main summits of Kangchenjunga. This includes two legends of Soviet climbing: Kazakh Anatoli Boukreev and Ukrainian Sergey Bershov, each of whom has climbed 13 out of the 20 peaks on the extended list. Boukreev died attempting Annapurna in 1997. Bershov, one of the only men to have ever climbed Lhotse South Face, is now 78 and, although he was in good form when I met him in Chamonix last summer, he is unlikely to further extend his tally. The addition of the new peaks does not take any of these climbers beyond the total of 14 peaks achieved by the 76 climbers who have completed the classic ‘Himalayan Crown’. Of those who have climbed all 14 classic eight-thousanders, only one, <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/um-hong-gil-s-project-impossible" target="_blank">Korean Um Hong-Gil</a>, has climbed any of the six additional peaks.  <figure><img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20260107080144_5651fc6445f5e5fd838f28e1eac1da45da136b309a4a00db1e4aafa7d4836251.png" data-media-id="editor_9" data-image-id="20260107080144_5651fc6445f5e5fd838f28e1eac1da45da136b309a4a00db1e4aafa7d4836251" data-rendition-name="original" width="2142" height="1310" loading="lazy" alt="New 8,000ers"><figcaption>Only one mountaineer, Korean Um Hong-Gil, has climbed any of the six additional peaks.</figcaption></figure>  Um climbed both Lhotse Shar and Yalung Kang, giving him a total of 16 summits. He required four attempts to climb Lhotse Shar, including one attempt in which he turned back just 100m from the summit following the deaths of two teammates. He finally succeeded in 2007 via a route up the Lhotse South Face. If a race to climb all 20 eight-thousanders were to begin, Um is currently in the lead. <a href="https://www.himalayandatabase.com/" target="_blank">The Himalayan Database</a> also lists two additional mountains in Nepal not included among the peaks announced by the Ministry of Tourism: Annapurna Central and Annapurna East. If these are included, bringing the total to 22 peaks, a few additional climbers deserve mention. Poles Piotr Pustelnik and the great Jerzy Kukuczka have both climbed all 14 classic eight-thousanders as well as Annapurna East, giving them 15 out of 22. Swiss climber Erhard Loretan climbed all 14 as well, and both Annapurna subsidiary summits, giving him a total of 16 out of 22 peaks. Annapurna East has a greater prominence than some of the 6 new peaks proposed by Nepal, but Broad Peak Central in the Karakoram has the greatest prominence of any subsidiary 8000m summit. Kukuczka has also climbed Broad Peak Central, so if the list is extended to 23 peaks, he has 16, equal with Loretan and Um. Then, there is a case for Shishapangma Central in China, which further complicates the task of coming up with a definite extended list. At the moment, these subsidiary summits are not attracting a lot of attention: of the 138 summit climbs on them, only 12 occurred in the last 25 years and none since 2011. Most climbers like to have some wide recognition of a target before investing time and money in trying to achieve it, and this may make it hard to build interest. But as completing the classic 8,000m peaks starts to become a rather frequent occurrence, some may be attracted to the longer list. If this new challenge catches on, as the Ministry of Tourism presumably hopes, how long will it be before someone passes Um Hong-Gil’s total and how long before someone climbs all 20 or 22 or 23 summits? <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/comment/dispelling-myths-about-climbing" target="_blank">Edward Morgan</a> is a British author and climber based in Switzerland. His first book, Lhotse South Face - The Wall of Legends, has been published in several languages and his second book, Chasing Mallory's Dream is due out in the UK this year.

New 8,000ers may restart peak-grabbing race

One of the few Newa towns situated outside Kathmandu Valley, Panauti still evokes the feeling of a place frozen in time.&nbsp; Largely untouched by haphazard urbanisation, this town 32km east of Kathmandu used to be a kingdom revered for the sacred confluence of the Punyamati and Rosi rivers.&nbsp; The Bramhayani temple is the site of a 12 yearly Makar Mela which is attended by devotees from as far away as India.&nbsp; Panauti’s crumbling monuments were restored in the 1990s by the French government. Temples, resting places, traditional homes were rebuilt and locals trained to revive their craft. Panauti and France marked 50 years of cooperation in September.&nbsp; However, the priceless murals on the temple walls are fading and need urgent restitution. Now, these crumbling wall paintings are meticulously documented in the Wall Paintings of Panauti and Their Context.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20260106090116_31f6acf06ef879037fec8274b85153eab4468566abf71616490679bf8468b85d.jpg" data-media-id="editor_0" data-image-id="20260106090116_31f6acf06ef879037fec8274b85153eab4468566abf71616490679bf8468b85d" data-rendition-name="original" width="1596" height="1074" loading="lazy" alt="Panauti murals"> </figure>  In his foreword, French researcher Gérard Toffin writes about some of the earliest wall paintings from the Malla period in Kathmandu, including a 17th century mural depicting the procession of Rato Machhindranath which has since been restored.&nbsp; Several other pieces still exist but in a pitiful state, defaced by scratches. ‘They were painted on a plaster coating made of soil, husks, or limestone, which were applied to the bricks making up the walls,’ Toffin notes.&nbsp; The book delves into the cult of Asta Matrika among Newa of all castes and classes, the first of which is Bramhayani. These all-pervading deities are linked to Shaktism which focuses on the importance of the female principle and together, combine the forces of life, sex and fertility with that of death and eros. The deities are painted on the wall, carved on the stone or moulded into metallic statues.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20260106090120_836efd2b0a569d8ec0fb2c6651a29b8f2dd8f8f75b72e27bb86b0bfc0ad8461f.jpg" data-media-id="editor_1" data-image-id="20260106090120_836efd2b0a569d8ec0fb2c6651a29b8f2dd8f8f75b72e27bb86b0bfc0ad8461f" data-rendition-name="original" width="1074" height="1434" loading="lazy" alt="Panauti murals"> </figure>  Riddhi Baba Pradhan, former director general of the Department of Archaeology who oversaw the restoration of Panauti 30 years ago, writes that a colourful wall painting depicting Buddha's past life at the Chabahil Chaitya built or restored during the reign of Lichhavi king Vrisdev in the 3rd century might be the earliest mural in Nepal. As for Panauti, a fragment from a 400-year-old scroll which illustrates a scene of Triveni Ghat with Dalinchok Hill in the background is likely the oldest. But that relic is currently at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts in the United States.&nbsp; Pradhan recalls first encountering wall paintings inside Bramhayani temple which were deteriorated by smoke, leaky roof, dust, vermilion, sprinkles of animal blood and lack of maintenance. The team led by chemist Bhimvar Singh Thapa treated the wall paintings and some of the details were recovered including the paintings of Astamatrika and Asta Bhairav on the east, west and southern walls.&nbsp; PAINTINGS ARE NOT VISIBLE The murals were painted during the reign of the last Malla King of Bhaktapur Ranjit Malla and Queen Viswalaxmi Devi 300 years ago. But 40 years after the restoration, Pradhan notes that the murals are again in poor condition: ‘The paintings are not visible, the plaster is severely damaged and the surface has peeled off … electrical wires hang haphazardly inside the temple.’ The second lot of murals at Ghat Sattal are thought to have been commissioned during the late Malla period or the beginning of the Shah dynasty. Exterior walls depict incarnations of Lord Vishnu as well as Sesh Narayan, Ganesh, a scene of Samundra Manthan, of angels Maya, Moha, Ganga. Their attributes, dresses, ornaments, facial expressions, body postures are all skilfully represented but in a deteriorated condition.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20260106090116_88d06703ae23a271905d81f35056d41df92cbbc4b9966fac3f34821659e585a8.jpg" data-media-id="editor_2" data-image-id="20260106090116_88d06703ae23a271905d81f35056d41df92cbbc4b9966fac3f34821659e585a8" data-rendition-name="original" width="588" height="862" loading="lazy" alt="Panauti murals "> </figure>  The wall paintings of Bramhayani Dyochhen are 90% degraded even though they were restored and repaired 40 years ago by the Panauti Integrated Project. Compared to other artefacts, wall paintings are more delicate to external factors, and if not preserved an important part of Nepal’s heritage will be lost.&nbsp; Furthermore, most of the wall paintings in Nepal are temperas, and not frescos. Tempera is painted with water-soluble mineral or vegetable pigments fixed with glue on the cow dung clay plaster on the brick walls. While Nepal’s focus has been on the repatriation of stolen artefacts from abroad, religious and cultural objects within the country like the Panauti murals need urgent attention.&nbsp; This slim publication by Panauti Municipality is an important call to begin the work before it is too late.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20260101120124_d0efa1e57b2710a206beb37c7e934ac34e694afc278985934eac2fc52124a92c.jpg" data-media-id="editor_3" data-image-id="20260101120124_d0efa1e57b2710a206beb37c7e934ac34e694afc278985934eac2fc52124a92c" data-rendition-name="original" width="1136" height="702" loading="lazy" alt="Wall Paintings of Panauti"> </figure>

Saving Panauti's murals

The American military action in Venezuela and the abduction of President Nicholas Maduro may redefine Nepal’s geopolitics as it juggles between three world powers, India, China and the United States.&nbsp;
Nepal’s interim government is busy preparing for elections on 5 March, and it was late issuing a statement on the American intervention in Venezuela, but the country may have to re-evaluate how it deals with its immediate neighbours and the global power.
“How does Nepal avoid being the next Ukraine or Venezuela? Small countries shouldn’t go around irritating big neighbours. And when big neighbours really get upset, they usually put up a moral fig leaf justifying their miltary action,” says energy economist Dipak Gyawali. “What we see with Venezuela today is bereft of such moral content, essentially banditry which in today’s day and age is unacceptable. Neither the rising new powers nor much of the Global South will take this lying down.”
International relations experts have said that there is now a new world order in which rules-based diplomacy has been thrown out of the window, and the world has been carved into America leading the western hemisphere, Russia is allowed to do what it wants in Ukraine and Europe, and China’s sphere of influence is now the Indo-Pacific.
Foreign affairs expert Nischal Pandey says there is a lesson for smaller nations like Nepal: “We have to be aware of the sensitivities of the major powers in the vicinity.”
There is also a lesson for smaller resource-rich countries not to give an excuse for intervention with poor governance and political instability due to inequity. In Venezuela’s case it was throttling democracy and not using its immense oil-wealth to uplift its people.
Nevertheless, the Trump administration’s abduction of a sitting president of a foreign government regardless of the dictatorial nature of his regime and Venezuela’s volatile internal politics, is illegal and breaches the international order that has been in place since after World War II and its devastation on humanity.
While Trump’s intervention in Venezuela, and threats against Colombia, Cuba and Greenland have brought international condemnation, here in Nepal it has not been taken as seriously as it should.
Says Amish Mulmi, author of the book All Roads Lead North: Nepal's Turn to China: “Some of the reaction on social media has been that of glee over the fall of a dictatorial Communist government on the other side of the world. However, the government statement about fully respecting the principles of sovereignty and the Charter of the United Nations is a strong statement that makes clear Nepal's position on the matter.”
“The abduction of Maduro is a clear sign of Trump's America ensuring its sphere of influence through might and a warning to toe the line,” Mulmi adds. “It also infringes on the sanctity of borders and the preservation of sovereignty. Trump's actions reek strongly of a bygone era of imperialistic control and resource capture.”
Venezuela has 17% of the world’s reserves of crude oil, even though refining this heavy tar-like oil will be costly, and is possible in only a few places including Texas.
“This has to do with a larger political economy of oil, the unravelling of pax Americana and the post-World war II order. This is USA’s heavy-handed response to remain on the top as well as to partly solve its debt of $39 trillion,” explains Gyawali. “But this is not going to help: China is far ahead, Russia has recovered from its 1990s low point, and manufacturing capital has moved away from America. So controlling only financial capital - and using military power so brazenly - is not going to work.”
The might also be specific lessons for Nepal as a smaller country with vast water resources. While water, unlike oil, is renewable, India’s interest in Nepal’s hydro resources cannot be ignored. Ironically, America’s capture of Venezuelan oil reserves could exacerbate climate breakdown and the melting of Himalayan glaciers, which will put Nepal’s water resources in jeopardy in the coming decades.
The only way to deal with this for Nepal and downstream India will be to build reservoirs on rivers to store monsoon precipitation, and that makes water a strategic commodity for the future.&nbsp;
“If we continue in the current mode of hydropower-biased water resources development ignoring irrigation, flood control, navigation, fisheries, tourism and other benefits, India will get the free benefit of regulated water while we pay the upstream environmental and social costs. History will blame our elected leaders for having undersold our resources,” adds Gyawali, who served as water resource minister in the early 2000s.
As for a larger geopolitical lesson: “We in Nepal are fortunate in having not one threatening hegemon but two superpowers India and China: they don’t agree with each other, but do agree on a peaceful Nepal for their own security. However, our current political leaders are irritating both the neighbours, unlike since the centuries past when our rulers looked solely after Nepal’s core interests and our neighbours knew that.”
American intervention in Venezuela also calls for strengthening of our institutions and diplomatic outreach. Nepal has been a non-aligned state, and for all its history has tried to follow a policy of equidistance between India and China. The difference with Venezuela is that Nepal has to deal with two giant neighbours, and not just one.
Says Mulmi: “It is no more only about balancing great power relations but also about benefiting from them. But that will be increasingly difficult as international law and the principles of sovereignty are encroached upon.”