Cow is now the national animal of Nepal

Nepal: Nepal has declared the Cow as its national animal. Cow, the sacred animal of Hindus is now the national animal of new-secular Nepal. Nepal adopted its new Constitution after years of political wrangling on September 20, 2015 which was chartered by President Ram Baran Yadav.

     General Secretary of Nepali Congress, Krishna Prasad Sitaula said, "For the pro-Hindus, we have made cow our national animal. Now, the animal has constitutional protection and cow slaughter has also been banned. This provision had been removed from the first CA but we brought it back." Many people suggested the one-horned Rhino as the national animal, but the government concluded with the Cow as their choice.

     Bengal to get India's first dolphin Community Reserve

     India’s first Dolphin Community Reserve will be established in West Bengal to protect the endangered mammal, Gangetic river dolphins.

     Decision in this regard was taken at a meeting of the State Wildlife Board chaired by state Chief Wildlife Warden Azam Zaidi. The dolphin reserve will come up in the stretch of the river  Ganges, also known as Hooghly, which is roughly 500 km long. Less than 2,000 

dolphins left in India, the reserve will help the mammal. The mammal is also declared as the national aquatic animal in 2010.

    Forest department officials said they would also conduct a census to estimate the population of dolphins, India’s national aquatic animal. Direct killing, habitat fragmentation due to construction of dams and barrages, indiscriminate fishing and pollution of rivers are some of the major threats affecting the species. Hundreds of fishermen are dependent on the river for survival.

      “A committee is being formed to examine in what way the community reserve would be set up in the Hooghly River between Malda and Sundarbans. We’ll take all stakeholders together in this initiative. It is expected that it would be ready within a year’s time,” state Chief Wildlife Warden Azam Zaidi told PTI.

     According to a World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) factsheet, the Ganges River dolphin, or Susu, inhabits the Ganges-Brahmaputra-Meghna and Karnaphuli-Sangu river systems of Nepal, India, and Bangladesh.

     Forest department officials said Gangetic dolphins share the same legal protection as tigers. “The presence of these mammals signals a river’s good health. Conserving dolphins will not only save an endangered species but it will help improve the river’s ecology,” Zaidi said.