Challenges to the Long-Term Survival of Wild Water Buffalo Bubalus arnee (Kerr, 1792) in Koshi Tappu Wildlife Reserve, Nepal

Challenges to the Long-Term Survival of Wild Water Buffalo Bubalus arnee (Kerr, 1792) in Koshi Tappu Wildlife Reserve, Nepal | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Challenges to the Long-Term Survival of Wild Water Buffalo Bubalus arnee (Kerr, 1792) in Koshi Tappu Wildlife Reserve, Nepal Birendra Bahadur Bist, Ram Chandra Adhikari, Sabina Dahal, Kalpana Chemjong, and 1 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-7142386/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract The study was conducted with main purpose to find out the existing situation of Wild Water Buffalo in KTWR. The Wild Water Buffalo categorized as endangered on the IUCN Red list. Threats were identified by using primary data and secondary data. Freely available satellite imagery Landsat-5 TM (2011), Landsat-8 OLI-TIRS (2015) and Landsat-8 OLI-TIRS (2021) were used for the detection of changes in land cover during the study period. The threats were like feral and domestic animals were sharing same habitat in KTWR. Invasive plant species were found in their habitat. Land cover change analysis (2011-2021) found that Grassland and Sand were decreased by 5.86% and 3.16% respectively. Water body and forest was to be increased by 2.17% and 6.31% respectively. Wild water buffaloes death was occurred unnaturally in every fiscal year than natural death. Tourists following in KTWR fiscal year (2017-2018) were 21,391 from Nepal, 352 tourists from Foreign and 54 tourists from SAARC respectively. Koshi Tappu Wildlife Reserve Importance Value Prominence Value GIS Land Cover Change Figures Figure 1 Figure 2 Figure 3 Figure 4 Figure 5 Figure 6 Figure 7 Figure 8 1. Introduction Koshi Tappu Wildlife Reserve (KTWR) is one which was established in 2032 B.S. (1976 A.D). It was established to conserve the Asiatic Water Buffalo ( Bubalus arnee ), locally known as Arna. The KTWR is biologically diversified as it consists of 21 species of invertebrates, 77 species of butterfly, 127 species of fish, 45 species of herpetofauna, 526 species of bird and 31 species of mammals. Similarly, floral diversity scores high position as flowering plants recorded 502 species, medicinal plants 18 species, fodder 33 species, edible plants 22 species and fern 12 species. Grassland is the dominant land cover of the reserve largely determined by frequent shifting of Koshi River course that constitutes approximately 53%, followed by forest 10%, river bank and river 37% (KTWR, 2018 ). The wild water buffalo ( Bubalus arnee ), prominent species of KTWR, has increased from 63 in 1976 (Dahmer, 1978 ) to 498 individuals in 2021 (NTNC, 2021 ).Wild Water Buffalo has been listed as Endangered in the IUCN Red List since 1986, and included in CITES under Appendix III (Kaul et al., 2019 ). Wild Water Buffalos are herbivorous animals and both diurnal and nocturnal. They highly depend on the availability of water. Wild Water Buffalo spent more than 55% of diurnal time in grazing, 29% in rest and 12% of the time in wallowing (Regmi and Chalise, 2019 ). Inside the KTWR there are many issues for the conservation of Wild Water Buffalos. Individual animals protected inside KTWR may be of purely wild, domestic and hybrid origin. Loss of habitat and genetic introgression from feral backcrosses the wild population is under potential threat (Kandel et al., 2019 ). Habitat degradation due to high rate of sedimentation by Koshi River flood and invasive species. Many feral cattle are inside the KTWR which create problem in food and potential disease and parasite transmission from livestock (Heinen, 1993 ). Collection of forest products, forest fire, shrinking habitat, Hunting, and natural calamities are also major threats (Regmi and Chalise, 2019 ; Shrestha et al., 2018 ). The remaining population of Wild Water Buffalos in KTWR are already affected or likely to be increasingly affected by hybridization with domestic buffalo (Flamand et al., 2003 ). For the conserving Wild Water Buffalo in the KTWR is an old issue, it is getting more critical every year. At present, the distribution of Wild Water Buffalo inside KTWR is unknown were they are distributed mostly and habitat condition of their place also changing by flooding of Koshi River in every year. Adhikari ( 2020 ) found that people’s perceptions toward Wild Water Buffalo and its conservation were mostly positive. At the present time their habitat condition is unknown. So, it is necessary to find out their condition in KTWR. Due to the increase in the human population, habitat modification and environment change to the Wild Water Buffalo habitat is in increasing trend. Therefore for the management of the reserve and conservation of Wild Water Buffalo, anthropogenic and natural factors affecting the population. Inside KTWR killing Wild Water Buffalos by different methods, mixing with domestic buffalos are also the problem. 2. Materials and methods 2.1 Study area Koshi Tappu Wildlife Reserve (KTWR) lies partly in the 1st and partly in the 2nd Provinces of Nepal. It is located within 86º55̍15̎ − 87º05̍02̎ E longitude and 26º33̍57̎ − 26º43̍40̎ N latitude. Initially, Reserve was declared covering 65 sq.km areas east of Koshi River is Sunsari district in 1976 A.D (2033 B.S). In 1978 A.D (2036 B.S) it was extended to 175 sq. km by including the Koshi River alluvial floodplain of the west of Koshi River as well covering part of Sunsari, Saptari, and Udayapur districts (Fig. 1). The Reserves is almost rectangular in shape measuring 17.5 km north south and 10 km east to west. Buffer Zone was declared in 2004 A.D (2061 B.S) covering 173 sq. km. within 86º53̍41̎ − 87º06̍32̎ E longitude and 26º33̍58̎ − 26º43̍42̎ N latitude. Presently, it incorporates two municipalities of Saptari district, one municipality of Udaypur district and one municipality and one rural municipality of Sunsari district. The Koshi Tappu was declared as a first Ramsar site of Nepal, wetland of international importance under the Ramsar conservation in December 17, 1987 A.D to achieve conservation and sustainable number of wetlands (KTWR, 2018 ). As the KTWR was established to conserve the last remaining population of Asiatic Water Buffalo ( Bubalus arnee ), locally known as Arna. 2.2 Material used Binocular (Vortex Optics Diamondback 8x42), Digital Camera (Canon SX430 IS), GPS (Garmin eTrex 10), Data sheet, Stationeries, etc. 2.3 Data collection for land covers change. For the data collections of land cover change in KTWR. Freely available satellite imaginary Landsat-5 TM (2011), Landsat-8 OLI-TIRS (2015) and Landsat-8 OLI-TIRS (2021) were used for the detection of changes in land cover during the study period. These images were downloaded from the USGS website https://earthexplorer.usgs.gov/ of Earth explorer. Dataset selection was fixed in the dry season when a clear sky period occurs in which the lowest or zero cloud cover is achieved. A brief description of the satellite images used is shown in (Table 1 ) Table 1 Satellite images used in land cover classification. S.N Satellite Senior Path Row Acquisition date 1. Landsat 5 TM 140 42 27 March 2011 2. Landsat 8 OLI_TIRS 140 41 22 March 2015 3. Landsat 8 OLI_TIRS 140 41 1 January 2021 2.4 Land Covers Change Analysis. Remote sensing data of 2010, 2015 and 2021 covering the KTWR core area were used for the decadal spatio-temporal land cover change over the period of 10 years and its impact. The analyses of the remote sensing data were carried out in Arc GIS 10.4. Images were re-projected to the UTM 45 by using nearest neighborhood re-sampling. Digitized map was re-projected to UTM/WGS 84, Zone 45 to match with satellite images. Maximum likelihood algorithm of supervised classification method was used for the classification of three different year’s imageries. GPS locations corresponding to each LULC classes were collected from field and used as training samples for the image classification and accuracy assessment. Four land cover classes were considered in image classification for producing land cover maps and detecting changes that occurred the period 2011–2021. The major land cover classes considered were forest, grassland, sand and water body. Digitized map were used to classify 2011 TM image, 2015 OLI TRIS image and 2021 OLI TRIS image were classified based on training samples collected during field visit. Land cover changes were calculated using calculator tool qualitative data were analyzed by raster in Arc GIS 10.4. Similarly, qualitative and using descriptive statistical tools such as frequency, percentage and mean in MS-Excel software. 2.5 Threats assessment Disturbance in habitat of Wild Water Buffalos in KTWR were assessed through the direct observation, literature reviews and interviews with reserve authorities in the study area. Many threats of them feral animals, invasive species, death of Wild Water Buffalo by natural an unnatural, tourist flowing and land cover changes are assessed in this research. From the above distribution data collection method. Applied same method for the feral animals. Two transect line and including points from each block. From direct observation number of feral animals and number of feral dung were counted in those points. For the feral animal dung and Wild Water Buffalos dung identified with help of a local KTWR Guides. Invasive species were extracted from above data collection of plants species in KTWR. Due to following of Koshi River in KTWR land covers change in Wild Water Buffalo habitat is one of major threats. In the recent year, Remote sensing data and Geographic information system (GIS) have been widely used in conservation planning. For the identification of land cover change in KTWR, satellite images were used in Arc GIS 10.4. And compared to different year land covers change on the basis of Grassland, forest, sand and water body. Data for the death of Wild Water Buffalo and tourist following in KTWR were taken from published fiscal year annual reports. 3. Results Three potential threats were identified from this research. Threats like feral animals in Wild Water Buffalos habitats were identified from designed transect lines in blocks of KTWR. The invasive species in Wild Water Buffalo habitat were identified from 92 plots were used to collect information on shrubs invasive species and 92 plots were used to collect data about herbaceous plants and grasses invasive species. And Land cover change in Wild Water Buffalos habitat was identified from comparing different year’s satellite image in ArcGIS 10.4. 3.1 Feral animals found in Wild Water Buffalo habitat in KTWR. During the study period it was found that there was sharing of the food resources among the Wild Water Buffalo and other feral and domestic cattle. Total 143 feral and domestic cattle’s were counted. The Bar diagram showed that mostly the number of feral and domestic cattle were found in Block C with 38.46%. In this block mostly Wild Water Buffalos were distributed. Sharing food resources in Wild Water Buffalo habitat was very serious problem for their management in KTWR. Block F with 17.48% and Block D with 15.38% feral and domestic cattle were found respectively (Fig. 2 ). 3.2 Invasive species found in Wild Water Buffalo habitat in KTWR. All total 9 species of invasive species were recorded from 92 plots. Out of the most dominance invasive species recorded in the study area were Lahare Banmara ( Mikeniya mikrantha) with PV of 0.38 followed by Kal Jhar ( Eupatorium adenophrum) with PV of 0.36 and Aule Banmara ( Eupatorium odoratum) with PV of 0.28 as the second and third most dominance invasive species respectively from herbaceous and grasses species (Table 7 ). And from shrub species most dominance invasive species recorded in study area were Banmara ( Lantana camera) with PV of 69.45 followed by Lajjaawatee ( Mimosa pudica) with PV of 20.32 and Gandhe ( Agerathum conyzoides) with PV of 11.06 as the second and third most dominance invasive species respectively. Table 2 Invasive species found in study area. s.n Shrubs invasive species PV s.n Herb invasive species PV 1 Agerathum conyzoides 11.06 1 Mikenia mikrantha 0.38 2 Mimosa pudica 20.32 2 Parthenium hysterophorus 0.17 3 Lantana camera 69.45 3 Eupatorium adenophrum 0.36 4 Chromoleana odorata 5.75 4 Eupatorium odoratum 0.28 5 Pogostemon benghalensis 5.53 3.3 Land cover change in Wild Water Buffalo habitats in KTWR. As per the 2021 data analysis, the Koshi Tappu Wildlife Reserve showed four major land cover types which were Grassland, Sand, Water body and Forest. 3.3.1 Land covers type in 2011. Land covers in 2011 of Koshi Tappu Wildlife Reserve showed that 63% area covered by grassland, 20% area covered by Sand, 12% area covered by Water body and 5% area covered by Forest respectively (Fig. 3). 3.3.2. Land covers type in 2015. Land covers in 2015 of Koshi Tappu Wildlife Reserve shows that 56% area covered by grassland, 20% area covered by water body, 14% area covered by Sand and 10% area covered by Forest respectively(Fig. 4 ). 3.3.3 Land covers type in 2021. Land covers in 2021 of Koshi Tappu Wildlife Reserve shows that 58% area covered by grassland, 16% area covered by Sand, 15% area covered by water body and 11% area covered by forest respectively (Fig. 5 ). The time series land use and land cover change analysis (2011–2021) brought some interesting facts about the dynamic ecosystem of the KTWR. During the shift over the last 10 years, significant change on the land use and ecosystem types have been observed. On the basis of total land cover grassland and sand were decreased by 5.86% and 3.16% respectively. Water body and forest were increased by 2.17% and 6.31% respectively in Fig. 6. Table 3 Land use and land cover of KTWR in years 2011, 2015 and 2021. Land Cover 2011_KTWR 2015_KTWR 2021_KTWR Change between 2011–2021 Area (Sq.km) In Percentage Area (Sq.km) In Percentage Area (Sq.km) In Percentage Area (Sq.km) In Percentage Grassland 94.44 63.44 84.2 56.56 85.72 57.58 -8.72 -5.86 Sand 29.32 19.69 21.21 14.25 24.61 16.53 -4.71 -3.16 water body 17.8 11.96 29.23 19.64 21.84 14.67 4.04 2.71 Forest 7.31 4.91 14.23 9.56 16.7 11.22 9.39 6.31 Grand Total 148.8 100 148.8 100 148.8 100 3. 4. Death of Wild Water Buffalos in KTWR. 3.4.1. Wild Water Buffalo death in KTWR (fiscal year 2071–2072) 2014–2015 Total two Wild Water Buffalos are road accidentally death were recorded fiscal year 2014–2015. Both are female wild water buffalos one is 5 years old and another female is 10 years old. Table 4 Wild Water Buffalo death in (2014–2015) Date Sex Age Area Number Reason 2071/10/7 Female 5 Buffer zone 1 Road accident 2071/11/7 Female 10 Core zone 1 Road accident 3.4.2. Wild Water Buffalo death in KTWR (fiscal year 2072–2073) 2015–2016 Only one female Wild Water Buffalo is accidentally death were recorded fiscal year 2015–2016. Table 5 Wild Water Buffalo death in (2015–2016) Date Sex Age Area Number reason 2072/6/18 female 5 years Buffer zone 1 Hit by ambulance 3.4.3. Wild Water Buffalo Death in KTWR (Fiscal year 2073–2074) 2016–2017 Total four Wild Water Buffalos death were recorded fiscal year 2016–2017. All Wild Water Buffalos are male. Age is unidentified. Three Wild Water Buffalos are death by electric shock and only one Wild Water Buffalo in death by naturally. Table 6 Wild Water Buffalo death in (2016–2017) Date Sex Age Area Number Reason 2073/7/13 Male - Kanchanrup Muncipilaty-10 (rice field) 2 Killed by Electric shock 2073/8/9 Male - Shabik pashim kusaha-4 (rice field) 1 Electric shock 2073/9/1 Male - Reserve area 1 Natural death 3.4.4. Wild Water Buffalo Death in KTWR (Fiscal year 2074–2075) 2017–2018 Total five Wild Water Buffalos death were recorded fiscal year 2017–2018. Among them one Wild Water Buffalo is male and other sex is unidentified. Four Wild Water Buffalos are death by naturally and only one Wild Water Buffalo is death by accidently. Table 7 Wild Water Buffalo death in (2017–2018) Date Sex Age Area Number Reason 2074/8/11 Male - Nandapokhari, Sunsari 1 Natural death 2074/09/23 - - Kusaha 1 Natural (cold) 2074/10/03 - - Kerabarii, sunsari 1 Natural (cold) 2074/12/09 - - Sasasthra camp, sunsari 1 Natural death 2074/12/24 - 2 year Prakashpur post 1 Accidentally death 3.4.5. Wild Water Buffalo Death in KTWR (Fiscal year 2075–2076) 2018–2019 Total two Wild Water Buffalos are death were recorded fiscal year 2018–2019. Both Wild Water Buffalos are male. One Wild Water Buffalo was died by road accident and another in death by fighting. Table 8 Wild Water Buffalo death in (2018–2019) Date Sex Age Area Number Reason - Male - Haripur 1 Road accident - Male - Patharii 1 Fighting 3.4.6. Wild Water Buffalo Death in KTWR (Fiscal year 2076–2077) 2019–2020 In this year two death Wild Water Buffalos were found which are not published by KTWR. From the collected data, it showed that Wild Water Buffalos were died both of natural as well as unnatural reason. Natural causes included as: age, disease, cold and territory. Similarly unnatural causes include: road accident, electric shock and fighting. The above bar diagram shows that total two unnatural deaths were recorded in year 2014–2015. Similarly, during the fiscal year 2015–2016, one unnatural death was recorded. In fiscal year 2016–2017, one natural and three unnatural death were recorded. Similarly, in fiscal year 2017–2018, four natural deaths and one unnatural death were recorded. In 2018–2019 till now two unnatural deaths were recorded. The bar graph shows that how the death rate of Wild Water Buffalos is increasing in each fiscal year and the reason is identified as the natural and unnatural showed in Fig. 21. The data and graph shows that the death rate of Wild Water Buffalos by unnatural is continually till now. 3.5. Tourist flow in KTWR Tourist flow in KTWR fiscal year from 2015–2016 to 2019–2020, from the above collection data its showed that mostly tourist flowing fiscal year 2017–2018 were 21,391 from Nepal, 352 tourists were from Foreign and 54 tourists were from SAARC respectively. And another second mostly tourist flowing fiscal year 2016–2017 were 21,363 tourists were from Nepal, 382 tourists were from Foreign and 54 tourists were from SAARC respectively. Third tourist flowing fiscal year 2018–2019 were 18,825 tourists were from Nepal, 352 tourists are form Foreign and 36 tourists are from SAARC respectively showed in Fig. 23. Last fiscal year 2019-2020 tourists were recorded as 10,825 from Nepal, 170 tourists from Foreign and 19 tourists are from SAARC respectively. In this fiscal year tourists flowing was low because worldwide citizens were suffering from COVID 19. 4. Discussion In the present designed blocks method, the total 143 number of feral and domestic cattle were found in Block C with 38.46%. Block F with 17.48% and Block D with 15.38% respectively. Mostly domestic cattle were found in western part of Koshi River. Ram and Acharya ( 2011 ) found that feral cattle population is less and daily visitor domestic cattle are higher. Feral cattle population were minimum because the wildlife census was carried out soon after the feral cattle evacuation campaign but daily visitor population was higher because local people released their cattle inside the reserve for grazing and this was because of only one security post in western sector (Saptari) and area was large. Chaudhary, (2001) found that Wild Water Buffaloes are probably the most seriously affected species by domestic cattle interference along with chital, hog deer and blue bulls. Wild Water buffaloes usually avoid the area used by livestock for grazing. Aryal et al. ( 2011 ) research found that Cattle and domestic buffalo grazing inside the reserve is another serious problem (Regmi & Chalise, 2019 ) found that 31.76% cattle found in near Madhuban and 25.57% cattels found near Kusaha. Present study found that total nine species of invasive plant species. The most dominance invasive species recorded in the study area was Lahare Banmara ( Mikeniya mikrantha) with PV of 0.38 followed by Kal Jhar ( Eupatorium adenophrum) with PV of 0.36 and Aule Banmara ( Eupatorium odoratum) with PV of 0.28 as the second and third most dominance invasive species respectively from herbaceous and grasses species. Among shrub species most dominance invasive species recorded in study area was Banmara ( Lantana camera) with PV of 69.45 followed by Lajjaawatee ( Mimosa pudica) with PV of 20.32 and Gandhe ( Agerathum conyzoides) with PV of 11.06 as the second and third most dominance invasive species respectively. Shrestha et al. ( 2018 ) invasive species were recorded in 23 plots out of 50 foraging plots surveyed. It was interesting that Mikania micrantha recorded to be consumed by Bubalus in 10 survey plots, which was one of the key invasive species. Siwakoti ( 2006 ) Invasive species such as Chromolaena odorata, Eupatorium adenophorum, Lantana camara, Mikania micrantha were found in KTWR were becoming problematic for the management. Khatri et al. ( 2010 ) invasive species has creating a serious problem in the native vegetation and become threat for all sorts of plants including forage species of Bubalus arnee . From this research it informs that all types of invasive species were key threats for their habitat and plants of Bubalus arnee . The present study found that land use and land cover change analysis (2011–2021) brought some interesting facts about the dynamic ecosystem of the KTWR. During the shift over the last 10 years, significant change on the land use and ecosystem types have been observed. On the basis of total land cover grassland and sand were decreased by 5.86% and 3.16% respectively. Water body and forest was increased by 2.17% and 6.31% respectively. Aryal et al. ( 2011 ) research found that continuous flooding inside the reserve has been destroying the grassland and tree cover, which further reduces the area available by converting potential habitat to barren/degraded land. Chettri et al. ( 2013 ) Land use and land cover change analyses (1976–2010) found that in 2010 the forest ecosystem has reduced by 94% compared to 1976. Whereas the grassland has increased by 79% of its original state. On the basis of total land cover, forests, river and stream, swamp and marshes decreased by 16%, 14% and 3% respectively over the last 34 years whereas the grassland has increased by 45%. Chaudhary et al. ( 2016 ) found that in 1976, forest cover constituted 17%, while agriculture land were 12%, grassland 11%, swamps/marshes 9%, river 24% and sand/ gravel by 27%. In 2010, the reserve experienced notable changes over a span of 34 years, especially in forest and grassland. Forests were found to decrease by 94% in 2010, whereas grassland in 1976 increased by 79% of its original state. Overall, forests, rivers, agriculture, sand/gravel and swamp/marshes decreased by 16%,14%, 7%, 5% and 4%, whereas grasslands increased by 45%. The Koshi River course was changed found to shift significantly from west to east forming multiple channels over a period of 34 years with changes in land cover. Present study shows that tourist flow in KTWR fiscal year from 2015–2016 to 2019–2020. From the above collection data its shows that mostly tourist flowing were 21,391 from Nepal in the fiscal year 2017–2018, 352 tourists were from foreign and 54 tourists were from SAARC respectively. And another second mostly tourist flowing fiscal year is 2016–2017 in which 21,363 tourists were from Nepal, 382 tourists were from foreign and 54 tourists are from SAARC respectively. Third tourist flowing fiscal year is 2018–2019, in this fiscal year 18,825 tourists were from Nepal, 352 tourists were form Foreign and 36 tourists were from SAARC respectively. Aryal and Maharjan ( 2018 ) found that the number of tourists in protected areas of Nepal was found to be increasing trend instead of being a stochastic event. On average, the number of tourists in KTWR were found to be increased by 836 (249–1301) per annum. The tourist number in all protected areas of Nepal were found to be increased by 40071 (24809–49159). Sharma et al. ( 2015 ) found that the tourism has been a small but growing activity in the KTWR, with visitor numbers increasing from 1511 in 2001 to 5704 in 2011. 5. Conclusion In the habitat of Wild Water Buffalo threats were also identified by the using of primary and secondary data. Feral and domestic animals were sharing same habitat in KTWR. Invasive species like Mikenia mikrantha, Parthenium hysterophorus, Agerathum conyzoides , etc are found in their habitat. Land cover change analysis (2011–2021) found that Grassland and Sand was decreased by 5.86% and 3.16% respectively. Water body and forest was increased by 2.17% and 6.31% respectively. Wild water buffalos were died by unnaturally in every fiscal year than natural death. Tourists following in KTWR mostly in fiscal year (2017–2018) were 21,391 from Nepal, 352 tourists were from Foreign and 54 tourists were from SAARC respectively. Declarations Author Contribution Author ContributionsBirendra Bahadur Bist: Conceptualization, methodology, formal analysis, investigation, writing—original draft, visualization, and project administration.Ram Chandra Adhikari: Supervision, resources, writing review and editing, validation, and critical revisions.Sabina Dahal: Data curation, field investigation, and writing review and editing.Kalpana Chemjong: Field data collection, literature review, and preparation of figures and tables.Sushmita Panta: Statistical analysis, proofreading, and manuscript formatting. Acknowledge We would like to thank Department of National Park and Wildlife Conservation (DNPWC) and KoshiTappu Wildlife Reserve (KTWR) for providing permission to conduct this study. Grateful to Prof. Dr. Damodar Thapa Chhetry, Head of the Department of Zoology, Post Graduate Campus, Tribhuvan University, Biratnagar for his encouragement and suggestions. Deeply Acknowledge to Prof. Dr. Tej Narayan Mandal, Department of Botany, Post Graduate Campus, Biratnagar to identifying plants and help analyzing the plant species data. I want to acknowledge Idea Wild, USA for providing GPS and Binocular as small equipment grants for this research. References Adhikari RC (2020) People attitude towards Wild Water Buffalo Bubalus arnee (Kerr, 1792) conservation in Koshi Tappu Wildlife Reserve, Provonence 1, Nepal. (Abs) National Conference on Integrating Biological Resources for Prosperity. Nepal Biological Society (NBS) Feb 6-7, 106-108. Aryal A, Shrestha TK, Ram A, Frey W, Groves C, Hemmer H, Dhakal M, Koirala RK, Heinen J, Raubenheimer D (2011) Call to conserve the Wild Water Buffalo ( Bubalus arnee ) in Nepal. International Journal of Conservation Science,2(4), 261-268. 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DOI:10.1016/j.ecoser.2015.02.007 Shrestha TK, Shrestha S, Koirala S, Parajuli A, Paudyal P, Mishra B, Sapkota M, Ghimire LN (2018). Bubalus arnee Forage under Threat: An Assessment of Koshi Tappu Wildlife Reserve, Nepal. International Journal of Research Studies in Zoology,4(3), 22-27. Siwakoti M (2006). An overview of floral diversity in wetlands of Terai region of Nepal. Our nature,4(1), 83-90. https://doi.org/10.3126/on.v4i1.506 Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. 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Bist","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAABCElEQVRIiWNgGAWjYBACA2YGBmYGAxAzgYEh8Y8NkMHYeICAFsZmuJaPDWkgLQ34tTCAtDBAtDDObDgMZuLVYs7O/vxxQcE9OXP23IefeXect1vbfhhoS41NNC4tls08hs0zDIqNLXueG0vznrmdvO1MIlDLsbTcBlwOO8zD2MxjkJC44UYagzQP2+1kswNALYwNh/FoYX8I0lIP1ML8m4ftXLLZ+YeEtDAYgrQkGNxIY5Oc2XbAzuwGAVtAfpk9wyDBcMOZZ2wWH84kJ5jdANqSgMcv5vzHH3wu+JMgb3A8jflGQoWdvdn59IcPPtTY4NSCARLBKhOIVQ4C9qQoHgWjYBSMgpEBAFVjZIoc7WysAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC","orcid":"","institution":"Government of Nepal, Shree Nagarjun Secondary School Sharmali","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Birendra","middleName":"Bahadur","lastName":"Bist","suffix":""},{"id":487484980,"identity":"3ff142be-e642-4daf-8bf5-6594cc37c497","order_by":1,"name":"Ram Chandra Adhikari","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Tribhuvan University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Ram","middleName":"Chandra","lastName":"Adhikari","suffix":""},{"id":487484981,"identity":"f212fd14-25f2-4b28-9280-958b1881c33f","order_by":2,"name":"Sabina Dahal","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Integrated development society (IDS) Nepal)","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Sabina","middleName":"","lastName":"Dahal","suffix":""},{"id":487484982,"identity":"a37cdb05-fbe6-4201-af48-122f9bb3e16b","order_by":3,"name":"Kalpana Chemjong","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Government of Nepal, Shree Rameshwor Secondary School","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Kalpana","middleName":"","lastName":"Chemjong","suffix":""},{"id":487484983,"identity":"ee9e580f-5f18-494d-a155-d3cfa6a04d76","order_by":4,"name":"Sushmita Panta","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Tribhuvan University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Sushmita","middleName":"","lastName":"Panta","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2025-07-16 17:23:18","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-7142386/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-7142386/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":87465535,"identity":"3b83d04e-f8b3-4b30-bd3c-963445a84cab","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-07-24 07:20:36","extension":"png","order_by":1,"title":"Figure 1","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"figure","size":719642,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003eMap of Study area Koshi Tappu Wildlife Reserve\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"1.png","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-7142386/v1/334afeb55f76f3cc2d3ebb96.png"},{"id":87465534,"identity":"7f4feacb-6637-42ca-b711-05572494b02b","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-07-24 07:20:36","extension":"png","order_by":2,"title":"Figure 2","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"figure","size":13196,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003eFeral and domestic cattle in KTWR\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"2.png","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-7142386/v1/259ae607775b01ab91e854db.png"},{"id":87466917,"identity":"8816a4e5-bf5a-4c48-ba94-65464382c860","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-07-24 07:36:37","extension":"png","order_by":3,"title":"Figure 3","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"figure","size":122304,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003eLand covers in 2011\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"3.png","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-7142386/v1/aa9e6cd9266c45af482ff043.png"},{"id":87465536,"identity":"a30f2bba-1d66-49e1-815a-7733867773b8","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-07-24 07:20:36","extension":"png","order_by":4,"title":"Figure 4","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"figure","size":142826,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003eLand covers in 2015\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"4.png","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-7142386/v1/758abb66472074cdb8063aa5.png"},{"id":87466482,"identity":"46f66704-7d5f-4795-aeff-2d607d787e43","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-07-24 07:28:36","extension":"png","order_by":5,"title":"Figure 5","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"figure","size":126047,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003eLand covers in 2021\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"5.png","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-7142386/v1/19b40b6c6ffe0c8c31a68aa2.png"},{"id":87466483,"identity":"0d76eb78-ab55-4fe3-af3e-5461427d9b7d","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-07-24 07:28:36","extension":"png","order_by":6,"title":"Figure 6","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"figure","size":207486,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003eSets of maps showing land use and cover changes in Koshi Tappu Wildlife Reserve during 2011 to 2021.\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"6.png","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-7142386/v1/75d7e1e0213a7f82124c6209.png"},{"id":87465538,"identity":"ca329bcc-0897-4a87-8784-ae32242e941a","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-07-24 07:20:36","extension":"png","order_by":7,"title":"Figure 7","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"figure","size":80399,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003eWild Water Buffalos death in KTWR by natural and unnatural\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"7.png","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-7142386/v1/ea834f16ce9b9c7b548cf9b9.png"},{"id":87466916,"identity":"6deb9aad-5eb4-4fa3-b3ca-fa124d3a634d","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-07-24 07:36:37","extension":"png","order_by":8,"title":"Figure 8","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"figure","size":104960,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003eTourist following in KTWR\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"8.png","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-7142386/v1/29c64552ddec305825681fcc.png"},{"id":91219804,"identity":"ab9f4a63-701b-416a-abfd-f4198f2e4811","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-09-12 20:53:21","extension":"pdf","order_by":0,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":2309073,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"manuscript.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-7142386/v1/64a0d29c-427e-4a74-b217-95168bc0a3a6.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"No competing interests reported.","formattedTitle":"Challenges to the Long-Term Survival of Wild Water Buffalo Bubalus arnee (Kerr, 1792) in Koshi Tappu Wildlife Reserve, Nepal","fulltext":[{"header":"1. Introduction","content":"\u003cp\u003eKoshi Tappu Wildlife Reserve (KTWR) is one which was established in 2032 B.S. (1976 A.D). It was established to conserve the Asiatic Water Buffalo (\u003cem\u003eBubalus arnee\u003c/em\u003e), locally known as Arna. The KTWR is biologically diversified as it consists of 21 species of invertebrates, 77 species of butterfly, 127 species of fish, 45 species of herpetofauna, 526 species of bird and 31 species of mammals. Similarly, floral diversity scores high position as flowering plants recorded 502 species, medicinal plants 18 species, fodder 33 species, edible plants 22 species and fern 12 species. Grassland is the dominant land cover of the reserve largely determined by frequent shifting of Koshi River course that constitutes approximately 53%, followed by forest 10%, river bank and river 37% (KTWR, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR13\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2018\u003c/span\u003e). The wild water buffalo (\u003cem\u003eBubalus arnee\u003c/em\u003e), prominent species of KTWR, has increased from 63 in 1976 (Dahmer, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR6\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e1978\u003c/span\u003e) to 498 individuals in 2021 (NTNC, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR14\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2021\u003c/span\u003e).Wild Water Buffalo has been listed as Endangered in the IUCN Red List since 1986, and included in CITES under Appendix III (Kaul et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR11\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2019\u003c/span\u003e). Wild Water Buffalos are herbivorous animals and both diurnal and nocturnal. They highly depend on the availability of water. Wild Water Buffalo spent more than 55% of diurnal time in grazing, 29% in rest and 12% of the time in wallowing (Regmi and Chalise, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR16\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2019\u003c/span\u003e). Inside the KTWR there are many issues for the conservation of Wild Water Buffalos. Individual animals protected inside KTWR may be of purely wild, domestic and hybrid origin. Loss of habitat and genetic introgression from feral backcrosses the wild population is under potential threat (Kandel et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR10\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2019\u003c/span\u003e). Habitat degradation due to high rate of sedimentation by Koshi River flood and invasive species. Many feral cattle are inside the KTWR which create problem in food and potential disease and parasite transmission from livestock (Heinen, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR9\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e1993\u003c/span\u003e). Collection of forest products, forest fire, shrinking habitat, Hunting, and natural calamities are also major threats (Regmi and Chalise, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR16\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2019\u003c/span\u003e; Shrestha et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR18\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2018\u003c/span\u003e). The remaining population of Wild Water Buffalos in KTWR are already affected or likely to be increasingly affected by hybridization with domestic buffalo (Flamand et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR7\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2003\u003c/span\u003e).\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eFor the conserving Wild Water Buffalo in the KTWR is an old issue, it is getting more critical every year. At present, the distribution of Wild Water Buffalo inside KTWR is unknown were they are distributed mostly and habitat condition of their place also changing by flooding of Koshi River in every year. Adhikari (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR1\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2020\u003c/span\u003e) found that people\u0026rsquo;s perceptions toward Wild Water Buffalo and its conservation were mostly positive. At the present time their habitat condition is unknown. So, it is necessary to find out their condition in KTWR. Due to the increase in the human population, habitat modification and environment change to the Wild Water Buffalo habitat is in increasing trend. Therefore for the management of the reserve and conservation of Wild Water Buffalo, anthropogenic and natural factors affecting the population. Inside KTWR killing Wild Water Buffalos by different methods, mixing with domestic buffalos are also the problem.\u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"2. Materials and methods","content":"\u003cdiv id=\"Sec3\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e\n \u003ch2\u003e2.1 Study area\u003c/h2\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eKoshi Tappu Wildlife Reserve (KTWR) lies partly in the 1st and partly in the 2nd Provinces of Nepal. It is located within 86\u0026ordm;55̍15̎ \u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;87\u0026ordm;05̍02̎ E longitude and 26\u0026ordm;33̍57̎ \u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;26\u0026ordm;43̍40̎ N latitude. Initially, Reserve was declared covering 65 sq.km areas east of Koshi River is Sunsari district in 1976 A.D (2033 B.S). In 1978 A.D (2036 B.S) it was extended to 175 sq. km by including the Koshi River alluvial floodplain of the west of Koshi River as well covering part of Sunsari, Saptari, and Udayapur districts (Fig. 1).\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eThe Reserves is almost rectangular in shape measuring 17.5 km north south and 10 km east to west. Buffer Zone was declared in 2004 A.D (2061 B.S) covering 173 sq. km. within 86\u0026ordm;53̍41̎ \u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;87\u0026ordm;06̍32̎ E longitude and 26\u0026ordm;33̍58̎ \u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;26\u0026ordm;43̍42̎ N latitude. Presently, it incorporates two municipalities of Saptari district, one municipality of Udaypur district and one municipality and one rural municipality of Sunsari district. The Koshi Tappu was declared as a first Ramsar site of Nepal, wetland of international importance under the Ramsar conservation in December 17, 1987 A.D to achieve conservation and sustainable number of wetlands (KTWR, \u003cspan class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2018\u003c/span\u003e). As the KTWR was established to conserve the last remaining population of Asiatic Water Buffalo (\u003cem\u003eBubalus arnee\u003c/em\u003e), locally known as Arna.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv id=\"Sec4\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e\n \u003ch2\u003e2.2 Material used\u003c/h2\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eBinocular (Vortex Optics Diamondback 8x42), Digital Camera (Canon SX430 IS), GPS (Garmin eTrex 10), Data sheet, Stationeries, etc.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv id=\"Sec5\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e\n \u003ch2\u003e2.3 Data collection for land covers change.\u003c/h2\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eFor the data collections of land cover change in KTWR. Freely available satellite imaginary Landsat-5 TM (2011), Landsat-8 OLI-TIRS (2015) and Landsat-8 OLI-TIRS (2021) were used for the detection of changes in land cover during the study period. These images were downloaded from the USGS website \u003cspan class=\"ExternalRef\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"RefSource\"\u003ehttps://earthexplorer.usgs.gov/\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/span\u003e of Earth explorer. Dataset selection was fixed in the dry season when a clear sky period occurs in which the lowest or zero cloud cover is achieved. A brief description of the satellite images used is shown in (Table \u003cspan class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e1\u003c/span\u003e)\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003cdiv class=\"gridtable\"\u003e\n \u003ctable id=\"Tab1\" border=\"1\"\u003e\n \u003ccaption language=\"En\"\u003e\n \u003cdiv class=\"CaptionNumber\"\u003eTable 1\u003c/div\u003e\n \u003cdiv class=\"CaptionContent\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eSatellite images used in land cover classification.\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/div\u003e\n \u003c/caption\u003e\n \u003cthead\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003cth align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eS.N\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/th\u003e\n \u003cth align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eSatellite\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/th\u003e\n \u003cth align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eSenior\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/th\u003e\n \u003cth align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003ePath\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/th\u003e\n \u003cth align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eRow\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/th\u003e\n \u003cth align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eAcquisition date\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/th\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003c/thead\u003e\n \u003ctbody\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e1.\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eLandsat 5\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eTM\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"char\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e140\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"char\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e42\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e27 March 2011\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e2.\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eLandsat 8\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eOLI_TIRS\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"char\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e140\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"char\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e41\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e22 March 2015\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e3.\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eLandsat 8\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eOLI_TIRS\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"char\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e140\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"char\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e41\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e1 January 2021\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003c/tbody\u003e\n \u003c/table\u003e\n \u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv id=\"Sec6\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e\n \u003ch2\u003e2.4 Land Covers Change Analysis.\u003c/h2\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eRemote sensing data of 2010, 2015 and 2021 covering the KTWR core area were used for the decadal spatio-temporal land cover change over the period of 10 years and its impact. The analyses of the remote sensing data were carried out in Arc GIS 10.4. Images were re-projected to the UTM 45 by using nearest neighborhood re-sampling. Digitized map was re-projected to UTM/WGS 84, Zone 45 to match with satellite images.\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eMaximum likelihood algorithm of supervised classification method was used for the classification of three different year\u0026rsquo;s imageries. GPS locations corresponding to each LULC classes were collected from field and used as training samples for the image classification and accuracy assessment. Four land cover classes were considered in image classification for producing land cover maps and detecting changes that occurred the period 2011\u0026ndash;2021. The major land cover classes considered were forest, grassland, sand and water body. Digitized map were used to classify 2011 TM image, 2015 OLI TRIS image and 2021 OLI TRIS image were classified based on training samples collected during field visit.\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eLand cover changes were calculated using calculator tool qualitative data were analyzed by raster in Arc GIS 10.4. Similarly, qualitative and using descriptive statistical tools such as frequency, percentage and mean in MS-Excel software.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv id=\"Sec7\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e\n \u003ch2\u003e2.5 Threats assessment\u003c/h2\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eDisturbance in habitat of Wild Water Buffalos in KTWR were assessed through the direct observation, literature reviews and interviews with reserve authorities in the study area. Many threats of them feral animals, invasive species, death of Wild Water Buffalo by natural an unnatural, tourist flowing and land cover changes are assessed in this research. From the above distribution data collection method. Applied same method for the feral animals. Two transect line and including points from each block. From direct observation number of feral animals and number of feral dung were counted in those points. For the feral animal dung and Wild Water Buffalos dung identified with help of a local KTWR Guides. Invasive species were extracted from above data collection of plants species in KTWR. Due to following of Koshi River in KTWR land covers change in Wild Water Buffalo habitat is one of major threats. In the recent year, Remote sensing data and Geographic information system (GIS) have been widely used in conservation planning. For the identification of land cover change in KTWR, satellite images were used in Arc GIS 10.4. And compared to different year land covers change on the basis of Grassland, forest, sand and water body. Data for the death of Wild Water Buffalo and tourist following in KTWR were taken from published fiscal year annual reports.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e"},{"header":"3. Results","content":"\u003cp\u003eThree potential threats were identified from this research. Threats like feral animals in Wild Water Buffalos habitats were identified from designed transect lines in blocks of KTWR. The invasive species in Wild Water Buffalo habitat were identified from 92 plots were used to collect information on shrubs invasive species and 92 plots were used to collect data about herbaceous plants and grasses invasive species. And Land cover change in Wild Water Buffalos habitat was identified from comparing different year\u0026rsquo;s satellite image in ArcGIS 10.4.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cdiv id=\"Sec9\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e\n \u003ch2\u003e3.1 Feral animals found in Wild Water Buffalo habitat in KTWR.\u003c/h2\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eDuring the study period it was found that there was sharing of the food resources among the Wild Water Buffalo and other feral and domestic cattle. Total 143 feral and domestic cattle\u0026rsquo;s were counted. The Bar diagram showed that mostly the number of feral and domestic cattle were found in Block C with 38.46%. In this block mostly Wild Water Buffalos were distributed. Sharing food resources in Wild Water Buffalo habitat was very serious problem for their management in KTWR. Block F with 17.48% and Block D with 15.38% feral and domestic cattle were found respectively (Fig. \u003cspan class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e2\u003c/span\u003e).\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv id=\"Sec10\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e\n \u003ch2\u003e3.2 Invasive species found in Wild Water Buffalo habitat in KTWR.\u003c/h2\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eAll total 9 species of invasive species were recorded from 92 plots. Out of the most dominance invasive species recorded in the study area were Lahare Banmara (\u003cem\u003eMikeniya mikrantha)\u003c/em\u003e with PV of 0.38 followed by Kal Jhar (\u003cem\u003eEupatorium adenophrum)\u003c/em\u003e with PV of 0.36 and Aule Banmara (\u003cem\u003eEupatorium odoratum)\u003c/em\u003e with PV of 0.28 as the second and third most dominance invasive species respectively from herbaceous and grasses species (Table \u003cspan class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e7\u003c/span\u003e). And from shrub species most dominance invasive species recorded in study area were Banmara (\u003cem\u003eLantana camera)\u003c/em\u003e with PV of 69.45 followed by Lajjaawatee (\u003cem\u003eMimosa pudica)\u003c/em\u003e with PV of 20.32 and Gandhe (\u003cem\u003eAgerathum conyzoides)\u003c/em\u003e with PV of 11.06 as the second and third most dominance invasive species respectively.\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003cdiv class=\"gridtable\"\u003e\n \u003ctable id=\"Tab2\" border=\"1\"\u003e\n \u003ccaption language=\"En\"\u003e\n \u003cdiv class=\"CaptionNumber\"\u003eTable 2\u003c/div\u003e\n \u003cdiv class=\"CaptionContent\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eInvasive species found in study area.\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/div\u003e\n \u003c/caption\u003e\n \u003cthead\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003cth align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003es.n\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/th\u003e\n \u003cth align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eShrubs invasive species\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/th\u003e\n \u003cth align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003ePV\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/th\u003e\n \u003cth align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003es.n\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/th\u003e\n \u003cth align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eHerb invasive species\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/th\u003e\n \u003cth align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003ePV\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/th\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003c/thead\u003e\n \u003ctbody\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e1\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eAgerathum conyzoides\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"char\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e11.06\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"char\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e1\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eMikenia mikrantha\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"char\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e0.38\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e2\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eMimosa pudica\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"char\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e20.32\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"char\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e2\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eParthenium hysterophorus\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"char\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e0.17\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e3\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eLantana camera\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"char\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e69.45\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"char\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e3\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eEupatorium adenophrum\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"char\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e0.36\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e4\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eChromoleana odorata\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"char\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e5.75\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"char\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e4\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eEupatorium odoratum\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"char\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e0.28\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e5\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003ePogostemon benghalensis\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"char\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e5.53\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003c/tbody\u003e\n \u003c/table\u003e\n \u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv id=\"Sec11\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e\n \u003ch2\u003e3.3 Land cover change in Wild Water Buffalo habitats in KTWR.\u003c/h2\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eAs per the 2021 data analysis, the Koshi Tappu Wildlife Reserve showed four major land cover types which were Grassland, Sand, Water body and Forest.\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003cdiv id=\"Sec12\" class=\"Section3\"\u003e\n \u003ch2\u003e3.3.1 Land covers type in 2011.\u003c/h2\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eLand covers in 2011 of Koshi Tappu Wildlife Reserve showed that 63% area covered by grassland, 20% area covered by Sand, 12% area covered by Water body and 5% area covered by Forest respectively (Fig. 3).\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/div\u003e\n \u003cdiv id=\"Sec13\" class=\"Section3\"\u003e\n \u003ch2\u003e3.3.2. Land covers type in 2015.\u003c/h2\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eLand covers in 2015 of Koshi Tappu Wildlife Reserve shows that 56% area covered by grassland, 20% area covered by water body, 14% area covered by Sand and 10% area covered by Forest respectively(Fig. \u003cspan class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e4\u003c/span\u003e).\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/div\u003e\n \u003cdiv id=\"Sec14\" class=\"Section3\"\u003e\n \u003ch2\u003e3.3.3 Land covers type in 2021.\u003c/h2\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eLand covers in 2021 of Koshi Tappu Wildlife Reserve shows that 58% area covered by grassland, 16% area covered by Sand, 15% area covered by water body and 11% area covered by forest respectively (Fig. \u003cspan class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e5\u003c/span\u003e).\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eThe time series land use and land cover change analysis (2011\u0026ndash;2021) brought some interesting facts about the dynamic ecosystem of the KTWR. During the shift over the last 10 years, significant change on the land use and ecosystem types have been observed. On the basis of total land cover grassland and sand were decreased by 5.86% and 3.16% respectively. Water body and forest were increased by 2.17% and 6.31% respectively in Fig. 6.\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003cdiv class=\"gridtable\"\u003e\n \u003ctable id=\"Tab3\" border=\"1\"\u003e\n \u003ccaption language=\"En\"\u003e\n \u003cdiv class=\"CaptionNumber\"\u003eTable 3\u003c/div\u003e\n \u003cdiv class=\"CaptionContent\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eLand use and land cover of KTWR in years 2011, 2015 and 2021.\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/div\u003e\n \u003c/caption\u003e\n \u003cthead\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003cth align=\"left\" rowspan=\"2\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eLand Cover\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/th\u003e\n \u003cth align=\"left\" colspan=\"2\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e2011_KTWR\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/th\u003e\n \u003cth align=\"left\" colspan=\"2\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e2015_KTWR\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/th\u003e\n \u003cth align=\"left\" colspan=\"2\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e2021_KTWR\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/th\u003e\n \u003cth align=\"left\" colspan=\"2\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eChange between 2011\u0026ndash;2021\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/th\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003cth align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eArea\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e(Sq.km)\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/th\u003e\n \u003cth align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eIn Percentage\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/th\u003e\n \u003cth align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eArea (Sq.km)\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/th\u003e\n \u003cth align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eIn Percentage\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/th\u003e\n \u003cth align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eArea (Sq.km)\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/th\u003e\n \u003cth align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eIn Percentage\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/th\u003e\n \u003cth align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eArea (Sq.km)\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/th\u003e\n \u003cth align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eIn Percentage\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/th\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003c/thead\u003e\n \u003ctbody\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eGrassland\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"char\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e94.44\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e63.44\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"char\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e84.2\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e56.56\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"char\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e85.72\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e57.58\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"char\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e-8.72\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"char\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e-5.86\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eSand\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"char\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e29.32\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e19.69\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"char\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e21.21\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e14.25\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"char\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e24.61\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e16.53\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"char\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e-4.71\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"char\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e-3.16\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ewater body\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"char\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e17.8\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e11.96\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"char\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e29.23\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e19.64\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"char\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e21.84\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e14.67\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"char\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e4.04\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"char\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e2.71\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eForest\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"char\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e7.31\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e4.91\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"char\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e14.23\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e9.56\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"char\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e16.7\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e11.22\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"char\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e9.39\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"char\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e6.31\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eGrand Total\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"char\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e148.8\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e100\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"char\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e148.8\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e100\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"char\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e148.8\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e100\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003c/tbody\u003e\n \u003c/table\u003e\n \u003c/div\u003e\n \u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003e3. 4. Death of Wild Water Buffalos in KTWR.\u003c/h3\u003e\n\u003cdiv id=\"Sec16\" class=\"Section3\"\u003e\n \u003cdiv class=\"Heading\"\u003e3.4.1. Wild Water Buffalo death in KTWR (fiscal year 2071\u0026ndash;2072) 2014\u0026ndash;2015\u003c/div\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eTotal two Wild Water Buffalos are road accidentally death were recorded fiscal year 2014\u0026ndash;2015. Both are female wild water buffalos one is 5 years old and another female is 10 years old.\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003cdiv class=\"gridtable\"\u003e\n \u003ctable id=\"Tab4\" border=\"1\"\u003e\n \u003ccaption language=\"En\"\u003e\n \u003cdiv class=\"CaptionNumber\"\u003eTable 4\u003c/div\u003e\n \u003cdiv class=\"CaptionContent\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eWild Water Buffalo death in (2014\u0026ndash;2015)\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/div\u003e\n \u003c/caption\u003e\n \u003cthead\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003cth align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eDate\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/th\u003e\n \u003cth align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eSex\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/th\u003e\n \u003cth align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eAge\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/th\u003e\n \u003cth align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eArea\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/th\u003e\n \u003cth align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eNumber\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/th\u003e\n \u003cth align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eReason\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/th\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003c/thead\u003e\n \u003ctbody\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e2071/10/7\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eFemale\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"char\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e5\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eBuffer zone\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"char\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e1\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eRoad accident\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e2071/11/7\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eFemale\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"char\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e10\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eCore zone\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"char\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e1\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eRoad accident\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003c/tbody\u003e\n \u003c/table\u003e\n \u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv id=\"Sec17\" class=\"Section3\"\u003e\n \u003cdiv class=\"Heading\"\u003e3.4.2. Wild Water Buffalo death in KTWR (fiscal year 2072\u0026ndash;2073) 2015\u0026ndash;2016\u003c/div\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eOnly one female Wild Water Buffalo is accidentally death were recorded fiscal year 2015\u0026ndash;2016.\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003cdiv class=\"gridtable\"\u003e\n \u003ctable id=\"Tab5\" border=\"1\"\u003e\n \u003ccaption language=\"En\"\u003e\n \u003cdiv class=\"CaptionNumber\"\u003eTable 5\u003c/div\u003e\n \u003cdiv class=\"CaptionContent\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eWild Water Buffalo death in (2015\u0026ndash;2016)\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/div\u003e\n \u003c/caption\u003e\n \u003cthead\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003cth align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eDate\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/th\u003e\n \u003cth align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eSex\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/th\u003e\n \u003cth align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eAge\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/th\u003e\n \u003cth align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eArea\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/th\u003e\n \u003cth align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eNumber\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/th\u003e\n \u003cth align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003ereason\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/th\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003c/thead\u003e\n \u003ctbody\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e2072/6/18\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003efemale\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e5 years\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eBuffer zone\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e1\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eHit by ambulance\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003c/tbody\u003e\n \u003c/table\u003e\n \u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv id=\"Sec18\" class=\"Section3\"\u003e\n \u003cdiv class=\"Heading\"\u003e3.4.3. Wild Water Buffalo Death in KTWR (Fiscal year 2073\u0026ndash;2074) 2016\u0026ndash;2017\u003c/div\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eTotal four Wild Water Buffalos death were recorded fiscal year 2016\u0026ndash;2017. All Wild Water Buffalos are male. Age is unidentified. Three Wild Water Buffalos are death by electric shock and only one Wild Water Buffalo in death by naturally.\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003cdiv class=\"gridtable\"\u003e\n \u003ctable id=\"Tab6\" border=\"1\"\u003e\n \u003ccaption language=\"En\"\u003e\n \u003cdiv class=\"CaptionNumber\"\u003eTable 6\u003c/div\u003e\n \u003cdiv class=\"CaptionContent\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eWild Water Buffalo death in (2016\u0026ndash;2017)\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/div\u003e\n \u003c/caption\u003e\n \u003cthead\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003cth align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eDate\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/th\u003e\n \u003cth align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eSex\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/th\u003e\n \u003cth align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eAge\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/th\u003e\n \u003cth align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eArea\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/th\u003e\n \u003cth align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eNumber\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/th\u003e\n \u003cth align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eReason\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/th\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003c/thead\u003e\n \u003ctbody\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e2073/7/13\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eMale\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e-\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eKanchanrup Muncipilaty-10\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e(rice field)\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"char\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e2\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eKilled by Electric shock\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e2073/8/9\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eMale\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e-\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eShabik pashim kusaha-4\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e(rice field)\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"char\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e1\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eElectric shock\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e2073/9/1\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eMale\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e-\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eReserve area\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"char\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e1\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eNatural death\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003c/tbody\u003e\n \u003c/table\u003e\n \u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv id=\"Sec19\" class=\"Section3\"\u003e\n \u003cdiv class=\"Heading\"\u003e3.4.4. Wild Water Buffalo Death in KTWR (Fiscal year 2074\u0026ndash;2075) 2017\u0026ndash;2018\u003c/div\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eTotal five Wild Water Buffalos death were recorded fiscal year 2017\u0026ndash;2018. Among them one Wild Water Buffalo is male and other sex is unidentified. Four Wild Water Buffalos are death by naturally and only one Wild Water Buffalo is death by accidently.\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003cdiv class=\"gridtable\"\u003e\n \u003ctable id=\"Tab7\" border=\"1\"\u003e\n \u003ccaption language=\"En\"\u003e\n \u003cdiv class=\"CaptionNumber\"\u003eTable 7\u003c/div\u003e\n \u003cdiv class=\"CaptionContent\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eWild Water Buffalo death in (2017\u0026ndash;2018)\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/div\u003e\n \u003c/caption\u003e\n \u003cthead\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003cth align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eDate\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/th\u003e\n \u003cth align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eSex\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/th\u003e\n \u003cth align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eAge\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/th\u003e\n \u003cth align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eArea\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/th\u003e\n \u003cth align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eNumber\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/th\u003e\n \u003cth align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eReason\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/th\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003c/thead\u003e\n \u003ctbody\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e2074/8/11\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eMale\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e-\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eNandapokhari, Sunsari\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"char\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e1\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eNatural death\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e2074/09/23\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e-\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e-\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eKusaha\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"char\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e1\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eNatural (cold)\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e2074/10/03\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e-\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e-\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eKerabarii, sunsari\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"char\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e1\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eNatural (cold)\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e2074/12/09\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e-\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e-\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eSasasthra camp, sunsari\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"char\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e1\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eNatural death\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e2074/12/24\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e-\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e2 year\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003ePrakashpur post\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"char\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e1\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eAccidentally death\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003c/tbody\u003e\n \u003c/table\u003e\n \u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv id=\"Sec20\" class=\"Section3\"\u003e\n \u003cdiv class=\"Heading\"\u003e3.4.5. Wild Water Buffalo Death in KTWR (Fiscal year 2075\u0026ndash;2076) 2018\u0026ndash;2019\u003c/div\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eTotal two Wild Water Buffalos are death were recorded fiscal year 2018\u0026ndash;2019. Both Wild Water Buffalos are male. One Wild Water Buffalo was died by road accident and another in death by fighting.\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003cdiv class=\"gridtable\"\u003e\n \u003ctable id=\"Tab8\" border=\"1\"\u003e\n \u003ccaption language=\"En\"\u003e\n \u003cdiv class=\"CaptionNumber\"\u003eTable 8\u003c/div\u003e\n \u003cdiv class=\"CaptionContent\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eWild Water Buffalo death in (2018\u0026ndash;2019)\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/div\u003e\n \u003c/caption\u003e\n \u003cthead\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003cth align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eDate\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/th\u003e\n \u003cth align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eSex\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/th\u003e\n \u003cth align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eAge\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/th\u003e\n \u003cth align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eArea\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/th\u003e\n \u003cth align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eNumber\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/th\u003e\n \u003cth align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eReason\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/th\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003c/thead\u003e\n \u003ctbody\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e-\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eMale\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e-\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eHaripur\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"char\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e1\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eRoad accident\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e-\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eMale\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e-\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003ePatharii\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"char\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e1\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eFighting\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003c/tbody\u003e\n \u003c/table\u003e\n \u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv id=\"Sec21\" class=\"Section3\"\u003e\n \u003cdiv class=\"Heading\"\u003e3.4.6. Wild Water Buffalo Death in KTWR (Fiscal year 2076\u0026ndash;2077) 2019\u0026ndash;2020\u003c/div\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eIn this year two death Wild Water Buffalos were found which are not published by KTWR.\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eFrom the collected data, it showed that Wild Water Buffalos were died both of natural as well as unnatural reason. Natural causes included as: age, disease, cold and territory. Similarly unnatural causes include: road accident, electric shock and fighting.\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eThe above bar diagram shows that total two unnatural deaths were recorded in year 2014\u0026ndash;2015. Similarly, during the fiscal year 2015\u0026ndash;2016, one unnatural death was recorded. In fiscal year 2016\u0026ndash;2017, one natural and three unnatural death were recorded. Similarly, in fiscal year 2017\u0026ndash;2018, four natural deaths and one unnatural death were recorded. In 2018\u0026ndash;2019 till now two unnatural deaths were recorded. The bar graph shows that how the death rate of Wild Water Buffalos is increasing in each fiscal year and the reason is identified as the natural and unnatural showed in Fig.\u0026nbsp;21. The data and graph shows that the death rate of Wild Water Buffalos by unnatural is continually till now.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv id=\"Sec22\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e\n \u003ch2\u003e3.5. Tourist flow in KTWR\u003c/h2\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eTourist flow in KTWR fiscal year from 2015\u0026ndash;2016 to 2019\u0026ndash;2020, from the above collection data its showed that mostly tourist flowing fiscal year 2017\u0026ndash;2018 were 21,391 from Nepal, 352 tourists were from Foreign and 54 tourists were from SAARC respectively. And another second mostly tourist flowing fiscal year 2016\u0026ndash;2017 were 21,363 tourists were from Nepal, 382 tourists were from Foreign and 54 tourists were from SAARC respectively. Third tourist flowing fiscal year 2018\u0026ndash;2019 were 18,825 tourists were from Nepal, 352 tourists are form Foreign and 36 tourists are from SAARC respectively showed in Fig. 23.\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eLast fiscal year 2019-2020 tourists were recorded as 10,825 from Nepal, 170 tourists from Foreign and 19 tourists are from SAARC respectively. In this fiscal year tourists flowing was low because worldwide citizens were suffering from COVID 19.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e"},{"header":"4. Discussion","content":"\u003cp\u003eIn the present designed blocks method, the total 143 number of feral and domestic cattle were found in Block C with 38.46%. Block F with 17.48% and Block D with 15.38% respectively. Mostly domestic cattle were found in western part of Koshi River. Ram and Acharya (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR15\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2011\u003c/span\u003e) found that feral cattle population is less and daily visitor domestic cattle are higher. Feral cattle population were minimum because the wildlife census was carried out soon after the feral cattle evacuation campaign but daily visitor population was higher because local people released their cattle inside the reserve for grazing and this was because of only one security post in western sector (Saptari) and area was large. Chaudhary, (2001) found that Wild Water Buffaloes are probably the most seriously affected species by domestic cattle interference along with chital, hog deer and blue bulls. Wild Water buffaloes usually avoid the area used by livestock for grazing. Aryal et al. (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR2\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2011\u003c/span\u003e) research found that Cattle and domestic buffalo grazing inside the reserve is another serious problem (Regmi \u0026amp; Chalise, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR16\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2019\u003c/span\u003e) found that 31.76% cattle found in near Madhuban and 25.57% cattels found near Kusaha.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ePresent study found that total nine species of invasive plant species. The most dominance invasive species recorded in the study area was Lahare Banmara (\u003cem\u003eMikeniya mikrantha)\u003c/em\u003e with PV of 0.38 followed by Kal Jhar (\u003cem\u003eEupatorium adenophrum)\u003c/em\u003e with PV of 0.36 and Aule Banmara (\u003cem\u003eEupatorium odoratum)\u003c/em\u003e with PV of 0.28 as the second and third most dominance invasive species respectively from herbaceous and grasses species. Among shrub species most dominance invasive species recorded in study area was Banmara (\u003cem\u003eLantana camera)\u003c/em\u003e with PV of 69.45 followed by Lajjaawatee (\u003cem\u003eMimosa pudica)\u003c/em\u003e with PV of 20.32 and Gandhe (\u003cem\u003eAgerathum conyzoides)\u003c/em\u003e with PV of 11.06 as the second and third most dominance invasive species respectively. Shrestha et al. (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR18\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2018\u003c/span\u003e) invasive species were recorded in 23 plots out of 50 foraging plots surveyed. It was interesting that \u003cem\u003eMikania micrantha\u003c/em\u003e recorded to be consumed by \u003cem\u003eBubalus\u003c/em\u003e in 10 survey plots, which was one of the key invasive species. Siwakoti (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR19\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2006\u003c/span\u003e) Invasive species such as \u003cem\u003eChromolaena odorata, Eupatorium adenophorum, Lantana camara, Mikania micrantha\u003c/em\u003e were found in KTWR were becoming problematic for the management. Khatri et al. (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR12\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2010\u003c/span\u003e) invasive species has creating a serious problem in the native vegetation and become threat for all sorts of plants including forage species of \u003cem\u003eBubalus arnee\u003c/em\u003e. From this research it informs that all types of invasive species were key threats for their habitat and plants of \u003cem\u003eBubalus arnee\u003c/em\u003e.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe present study found that land use and land cover change analysis (2011\u0026ndash;2021) brought some interesting facts about the dynamic ecosystem of the KTWR. During the shift over the last 10 years, significant change on the land use and ecosystem types have been observed. On the basis of total land cover grassland and sand were decreased by 5.86% and 3.16% respectively. Water body and forest was increased by 2.17% and 6.31% respectively. Aryal et al. (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR2\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2011\u003c/span\u003e) research found that continuous flooding inside the reserve has been destroying the grassland and tree cover, which further reduces the area available by converting potential habitat to barren/degraded land. Chettri et al. (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR5\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2013\u003c/span\u003e) Land use and land cover change analyses (1976\u0026ndash;2010) found that in 2010 the forest ecosystem has reduced by 94% compared to 1976. Whereas the grassland has increased by 79% of its original state. On the basis of total land cover, forests, river and stream, swamp and marshes decreased by 16%, 14% and 3% respectively over the last 34 years whereas the grassland has increased by 45%. Chaudhary et al. (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR4\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2016\u003c/span\u003e) found that in 1976, forest cover constituted 17%, while agriculture land were 12%, grassland 11%, swamps/marshes 9%, river 24% and sand/ gravel by 27%. In 2010, the reserve experienced notable changes over a span of 34 years, especially in forest and grassland. Forests were found to decrease by 94% in 2010, whereas grassland in 1976 increased by 79% of its original state. Overall, forests, rivers, agriculture, sand/gravel and swamp/marshes decreased by 16%,14%, 7%, 5% and 4%, whereas grasslands increased by 45%. The Koshi River course was changed found to shift significantly from west to east forming multiple channels over a period of 34 years with changes in land cover.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ePresent study shows that tourist flow in KTWR fiscal year from 2015\u0026ndash;2016 to 2019\u0026ndash;2020. From the above collection data its shows that mostly tourist flowing were 21,391 from Nepal in the fiscal year 2017\u0026ndash;2018, 352 tourists were from foreign and 54 tourists were from SAARC respectively. And another second mostly tourist flowing fiscal year is 2016\u0026ndash;2017 in which 21,363 tourists were from Nepal, 382 tourists were from foreign and 54 tourists are from SAARC respectively. Third tourist flowing fiscal year is 2018\u0026ndash;2019, in this fiscal year 18,825 tourists were from Nepal, 352 tourists were form Foreign and 36 tourists were from SAARC respectively. Aryal and Maharjan (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR3\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2018\u003c/span\u003e) found that the number of tourists in protected areas of Nepal was found to be increasing trend instead of being a stochastic event. On average, the number of tourists in KTWR were found to be increased by 836 (249\u0026ndash;1301) per annum. The tourist number in all protected areas of Nepal were found to be increased by 40071 (24809\u0026ndash;49159). Sharma et al. (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR17\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2015\u003c/span\u003e) found that the tourism has been a small but growing activity in the KTWR, with visitor numbers increasing from 1511 in 2001 to 5704 in 2011.\u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"5. Conclusion","content":"\u003cp\u003eIn the habitat of Wild Water Buffalo threats were also identified by the using of primary and secondary data. Feral and domestic animals were sharing same habitat in KTWR. Invasive species like \u003cem\u003eMikenia mikrantha, Parthenium hysterophorus, Agerathum conyzoides\u003c/em\u003e, etc are found in their habitat. Land cover change analysis (2011\u0026ndash;2021) found that Grassland and Sand was decreased by 5.86% and 3.16% respectively. Water body and forest was increased by 2.17% and 6.31% respectively. Wild water buffalos were died by unnaturally in every fiscal year than natural death. Tourists following in KTWR mostly in fiscal year (2017\u0026ndash;2018) were 21,391 from Nepal, 352 tourists were from Foreign and 54 tourists were from SAARC respectively.\u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"Declarations","content":"\u003ch2\u003eAuthor Contribution\u003c/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003eAuthor ContributionsBirendra Bahadur Bist: Conceptualization, methodology, formal analysis, investigation, writing\u0026mdash;original draft, visualization, and project administration.Ram Chandra Adhikari: Supervision, resources, writing review and editing, validation, and critical revisions.Sabina Dahal: Data curation, field investigation, and writing review and editing.Kalpana Chemjong: Field data collection, literature review, and preparation of figures and tables.Sushmita Panta: Statistical analysis, proofreading, and manuscript formatting.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eAcknowledge\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWe would like to thank Department of National Park and Wildlife Conservation (DNPWC) and KoshiTappu Wildlife Reserve (KTWR) for providing permission to conduct this study. Grateful to Prof. Dr. Damodar Thapa Chhetry, Head of the Department of Zoology, Post Graduate Campus, Tribhuvan University, Biratnagar for his encouragement and suggestions. \u0026nbsp;Deeply Acknowledge to Prof. Dr. Tej Narayan Mandal, Department of Botany, Post Graduate Campus, Biratnagar to identifying plants and help analyzing the plant species data. \u0026nbsp;I want to acknowledge Idea Wild, USA for providing GPS and Binocular as small equipment grants for this research.\u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"References","content":"\u003col\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eAdhikari RC (2020) People attitude towards Wild Water Buffalo \u003cem\u003eBubalus arnee\u003c/em\u003e (Kerr, 1792) conservation in Koshi Tappu Wildlife Reserve, Provonence 1, Nepal. (Abs) National Conference on Integrating Biological Resources for Prosperity. Nepal Biological Society (NBS) Feb 6-7, 106-108. \u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eAryal A, Shrestha TK, Ram A, Frey W, Groves C, Hemmer H, Dhakal M, Koirala RK, Heinen J, Raubenheimer D (2011) Call to conserve the Wild Water Buffalo (\u003cem\u003eBubalus arnee\u003c/em\u003e) in Nepal. International Journal of Conservation Science,2(4), 261-268. \u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eAryal C, Maharjan KK (2018) Assessment of Ecotourism Potential of Koshi Tappu Wildlife Reserve, Eastern Nepal. Journal of Tourism \u0026amp; Adventure,1(1), 48-67. \u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eChaudhary S, Chettri N, Uddin K, Khatri TB, Dhakal M, Bajracharya B, Ning W (2016) Implications of land cover change on ecosystems services and people\u0026rsquo;s dependency: A case study from the Koshi Tappu Wildlife Reserve, Nepal. Ecological Complexity,28, 200-211. DOI:10.1016/j.ecocom.2016.04.002\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eChettri N, Uddin K, Chaudhary S, Sharma E (2013) Linking spatio-temporal land cover change to biodiversity conservation in the Koshi Tappu Wildlife Reserve, Nepal. Diversity,5(2), 335-351. DOI:10.3390/d5020335\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eDahmer TD (1978). Status and ecology of the wild Asian buffalo (\u003cem\u003eBubalus bubalis\u003c/em\u003e L.) in Nepal. Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, \u0026amp; Professional Papers, 6530. https://scholarworks.umt.edu/etd/6530 \u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eFlamand J, Vankan D, Gairhe K, Duong H, Barker J (2003). Genetic identification of wild Asian water buffalo in Nepal. Animal Conservation,6(3), 265-270. \u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003ehttps://doi.org/10.1017/S1367943003003329 \u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eHeinen JT (1993). Population viability and management recommendations for wild water buffalo \u003cem\u003eBubalus bubalis\u003c/em\u003e in Kosi Tappu Wildlife Reserve, Nepal. Biological Conservation,65(1), 29-34. https://doi.org/10.1016/0006-3207(93)90193-5 \u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eKandel RC, Poudel RC, Sadaula A, Kandel P, Gairhe KP, Pokheral CP, Bajracharya SB, Chalise MK, Solanki GS (2019). Revisiting genetic structure of Wild Buffaloes \u003cem\u003eBubalus arnee\u003c/em\u003e Kerr, 1792 (Mammalia: Artiodactyla: Bovidae) in Koshi Tappu Wildlife Reserve, Nepal: an assessment for translocation programs. Journal of Threatened Taxa,11(15), 14942-14954. https://doi.org/10.11609/jott.4940.11.15.14942-14954 \u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eKaul R, Williams A, Rithe K, Steinmetz R, Mishra R (2019). \u003cem\u003eBubalus arnee\u003c/em\u003e. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species2019: e. T3129A46364616. In (Vol. http://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2019-1.RLTS.T3129A46364616.en).\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eKhatri TB, Shah DN, Shah RDT, Mishra N (2010). Biodiversity of Koshi Tappu Wildlife Reserve: a post flood assessment. Journal of Wetlands Ecology, 4, 69-82. DOI:10.3126/jowe.v4i0.3734\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eKTWR (2018). Koshi Tappu Wildlife Reserve and It\u0026rsquo;s Buff er Zone Management Plan (2074/75-2078/79). Koshi Tappu Wildlife Reserve Office, Paschim Kushaha, Sunsari, Nepal. \u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eNTNC (2021). \u003cem\u003eWild Water Buffalo population increases in Nepal\u003c/em\u003e. https://ntnc.org.np/news/wild-water-buffalo-population-increases-nepal. assessed on 26 April, 2021.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eRam A, Acharya KP (2011). Status, Distribution, Threat and Habitat pattern assessment of Asiatic Wild Water Buffalo in Koshi Tappu Wildlife Reserve, Eastern Nepal., 1-19. DOI:10.13140/RG.2.1.2332.3121\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eRegmi S, Chalise DMK (2019). Food habit and conservation threats of Wild Water Buffalo.Nature Khabar. https://naturekhabar.com/en/archives/12250 \u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eSharma B, Rasul G, Chettri N (2015). The economic value of wetland ecosystem services: evidence from the Koshi Tappu Wildlife Reserve, Nepal. Ecosystem Services,12, 84-93. DOI:10.1016/j.ecoser.2015.02.007\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eShrestha TK, Shrestha S, Koirala S, Parajuli A, Paudyal P, Mishra B, Sapkota M, Ghimire LN (2018). \u003cem\u003eBubalus arnee \u003c/em\u003eForage under Threat: An Assessment of Koshi Tappu Wildlife Reserve, Nepal. International Journal of Research Studies in Zoology,4(3), 22-27. \u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eSiwakoti M (2006). An overview of floral diversity in wetlands of Terai region of Nepal. Our nature,4(1), 83-90. https://doi.org/10.3126/on.v4i1.506\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ol\u003e"}],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":true,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":true,"hideJournal":true,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":false,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":false,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"Koshi Tappu Wildlife Reserve, Importance Value, Prominence Value, GIS, Land Cover Change","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-7142386/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-7142386/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003eThe study was conducted with main purpose to find out the existing situation of Wild Water Buffalo in KTWR. The Wild Water Buffalo categorized as endangered on the IUCN Red list. Threats were identified by using primary data and secondary data. Freely available satellite imagery Landsat-5 TM (2011), Landsat-8 OLI-TIRS (2015) and Landsat-8 OLI-TIRS (2021) were used for the detection of changes in land cover during the study period. The threats were like feral and domestic animals were sharing same habitat in KTWR. Invasive plant species were found in their habitat. Land cover change analysis (2011-2021) found that Grassland and Sand were decreased by 5.86% and 3.16% respectively. Water body and forest was to be increased by 2.17% and 6.31% respectively. Wild water buffaloes death was occurred unnaturally in every fiscal year than natural death. Tourists following in KTWR \u0026nbsp;fiscal year (2017-2018) were 21,391 from Nepal, 352 tourists from Foreign and 54 tourists from SAARC respectively.\u003c/p\u003e","manuscriptTitle":"Challenges to the Long-Term Survival of Wild Water Buffalo Bubalus arnee (Kerr, 1792) in Koshi Tappu Wildlife Reserve, Nepal","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2025-07-24 07:20:31","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-7142386/v1","editorialEvents":[{"type":"communityComments","content":0}],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"635c52a2-db0c-4f65-9965-c678c7625817","owner":[],"postedDate":"July 24th, 2025","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"posted","subjectAreas":[],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2025-09-12T20:53:10+00:00","versionOfRecord":[],"versionCreatedAt":"2025-07-24 07:20:31","video":"","vorDoi":"","vorDoiUrl":"","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-7142386","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-7142386","identity":"rs-7142386","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"8U1c8b4HqxoKbykW_rLl7","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}