Tek Bahadur and Kapil chasing butterfly

Tek Bahadur didn't know much about Putli at first . How will Gurung, who has not received much formal education, explain this to tourists? It was challenging for him. But he kept collecting all the information he had and found about the doll . He started taking pictures of as many dolls as he could see.

Another friend Kapil Prasad Pokharel also supported Gurung, who has been focusing on this for 10 years. Kapil was also a nature guide first. Later, he worked for a long time as a wildlife technician in the National Nature Conservation Fund. At that time, he took pictures of butterflies along with other animals.

These two collected not only pictures of dolls, but also a lot of information. They decided, "This information should be made public". So let's get the book out.' Few books about butterflies are published in Nepal. There are still less books written by Nepali people.

They had a lot of pictures and details that led to the book. They gathered these details only because of their long association with forest and wildlife. We are experienced in terms of work. But we are not scholars. We thought that there would be a mistake if we only took out the book and sought the help of a person to be a witness,' said Kapil .

Kiran Thapa Magar, who has an MSc in Biology from Tribhuvan University, was ready to help them. In this way, a book titled 'Field Guide, Butterflies of Chitwan, Nepal' was prepared on 160 pages of smooth paper with color photographs.

Named after the three people, the book was published recently. This book contains 312 colorful pictures of butterflies and information about them. "Looking at this, it may seem that it is only for tourist nature guides, but this book is useful for journalists, study researchers and students who are interested in biology and want to understand about butterflies," said Tek Bahadur.

Tek Bahadur Rapti River is to be crossed from Sauraha, a settlement within Chitwan park, to Padampur village in the south. Born in May 2017. Sauraha came and he Since 2049, he has been a tourist guiding profession. Your formal education He says up to class seven. But with training and the company of foreign tourists, he became able to speak, understand and read English.

The government relocated Padampur and settled a new settlement under the guise of North Jutapani from the highway. But Tek Bahadur did not go there . His house is now in Ratnanagar Municipality-6 Bachhuli Sauraha . Tek Bahadur, who has been a constant guide, sometimes had to be rude especially when foreign tourists asked him about the doll. Once he went to Kathmandu with two foreign tourists who came to see birds in Chitwan.

He was very happy to see that foreign doll in Kathmandu. Tek Bahadur was surprised when they told him that they had seen a very rare butterfly. This happened 20 years ago in Kathmandu. The butterflies that those foreigners were enjoying as rare, I had seen many of them in Chitwan . After that incident, I became more curious to know and understand about the butterfly,' said Tek Bahadur.

As he got deeper into understanding about butterflies, he found that while many people were interested in tigers, rhinos and other large animals, few people paid attention to butterflies . It should be understood that the environment and ecosystem in the forest where there is a tiger is good and healthy. The same is true for

dolls. Places with a good source of water, diverse vegetation, have more butterflies. But who will keep a butterfly's interest like that of a tiger?' He said He started taking pictures of butterflies wherever they are seen in the forest, Ghargaon, city market. He took the help of various materials to understand about him.

'A little old information about the butterfly of Chitwan was taken out by Tiger Tops Jungle Lodge . Gurung said that Colleen Smith, known as 'Putli Baje' in Nepal, has given details of 247 butterflies found in Chitwan.

Kapil Prasad Pokharel vs. no. Born in June 2019. He B.S. Adopted the profession of nature guide since 2040. He was a nature guide for nine years and left this work in the middle. From 2050, he started working as a wildlife technician at the Sauraha office of the National Nature Conservation Fund.

His responsibility was to keep records of animals. Like Tek Bahadur, he also does not have much formal education. But based on experience, he said that he is getting wet in the work . Everyone was interested in large animals. Although no one inquired about the beautiful, small and sensitive doll, he himself took pictures of the doll.

Once the Sauraha office of the National Nature Conservation Fund conducted a survey of fauna and flora in Chure area for three months. Tek Bahadur and Kapil were there. The acquaintance was old. But with that meeting, both of them reached the squeeze to do some effective work in the area of ​​Putli. After that both of them started jungle safari, jungle walk, boat safari wherever found, taking pictures of butterflies and keeping details.

After working like this for almost 10 years, they thought let's publish a book. Then they consulted a foreign expert named Pete about the work they did, Bhaiya Khanal, a doll expert from Nepal, and Mahendra Limbu, who was writing about dolls. Look at the books by Dolly Baj Colleen Smith . Although they took a lot of photos, they found 312 species of butterflies.

'Of these, 264 dolls were found in Chitwan . Collen had recorded 247 . We have reached 264 . Even after that, we have found five more new butterflies,' said Tek Bahadur. Despite being useful for the environment, biological diversity and agricultural sector, the threat to butterflies is increasing, says Tek Bahadur. He said that due to the use of pesticides in agriculture, depletion of forests, and the impact of fires, the butterfly is facing problems.

'Urbanization has reduced greenery . No gardens. Butterfly is difficult," he said. Michaha species of weeds Mycania, Parthenium have been observed to be favored by the butterfly . He is of the opinion that there should be a good study about this. The book published with pictures of butterflies also contains materials about the importance and life cycle of butterflies . Therefore, they believe that this book can be helpful in butterfly conservation.