Rare species of bird found in Upper Mustang

For the first time, a rare species of new bird has been found in Nepal. According to the Annapurna Conservation Area Project, Area Conservation Area Office, Lomanthang, a new bird of 'Theuwa' species has been found in the Upper Mustang for Nepal.

Named 'European Roller' or 'Eurasian Roller', this species has been recorded for the first time in Nepal from the upper Mustang. Ram Bahadur Gurung, an employee of the Area Conservation Office's Lomanthang and a local tourism entrepreneur, captured a picture of the bird two weeks ago in the Kekighang area near Lomanthang, a tourist village in Upper Mustang full of religious art, culture and tradition.

The photographs captured by tourist were found in Nepal were sent to Rishi Baral, head of the Annapurna Conservation Area Project Jomsom (Lomanthang) and conservation officer of the Annapurna Conservation Area Project under the National Nature Conservation Fund.

He became convinced that the bird was a "European roller". Various pictures of the bird were sent to ornithologists in Nepal and abroad to confirm the bird's identity.

 British ornithologists Carol Inskip, Tim Inskip and Nepalese ornithologists Dr Hemsagar Baral, Som GC, Sanjeev Acharya and others have said that the bird is a 'European roller' and there is no record of it in Nepal so far.

Gurung, who regularly observes birds, said that he was excited to record the bird for the first time in Nepal.

Conservation Officer Rishi Baral pointed out that more research is still needed to find new birds in Nepal.

"How did a new species of bird come to this area? What is its condition? We need to do more research," he said.

Senior Ornithologist Dr Hemsagar Baral claimed that the bird found in the upper Mustang was a new species. "In fact, experts interested in this bird did a lot of research in the Terai region to find it in Nepal. Eventually, the bird was found in the Upper Mustang," he said.

The number of birds found in the Annapurna region has reached 519 since it was found in Mustang.