| Whitewater Nepal |
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Wildlife A river journey is one of the best ways of viewing Nepal's abundant wildlife. You will see a vast number of different birds: from eagles to egrets, vultures to horn-bills, over 800 species! Butterflies and moths are usually more visible when you camp, and again there is a huge variety - over 5000 species. If you are lucky you may sight the rare gharial crocodile (that's the fish eating one with the strange long snout) or the more common mugger crocodile that feeds on anything: fish, small mammals, dead bodies, or other carrion. The occasional rafting group on the Narayani and Karnali rivers have sighted the very rare Gangetic dolphin, one of the few freshwater dolphin species in the world (we suspect that a kayaker stands a better chance of viewing the mammals closely because of the latter's curiosity). If you are a fisherman then you will be interested in the famous Masheer fighting fish - record weight 45 kg! There are several species of snakes, but these are very rarely seen. River-rafting groups normally see lots of monkeys, and mongoose sightings are quite common. If you are lucky and on the right river at the right time you may also see tiger, leopard, wild elephant, blackbuck, nilgai, gaur, wild buffalo, rhino, hyenas, wild dogs, civets, wild boars, sloth and black bears. These are of course more likely to be sighted on the more remote rivers particularly in the West. |