The animals inside the Banke National Park are at risk due to water shortage these days. As there is no proper water source available inside the park, the animals are facing problems finding water close to their habitats.

Though the park authority has constructed 15 ponds to provide water to the animals, three of them have already dried up and the water levels in other ponds are decreasing by the day.

Around 60 percent of the park area lies in Chure and Bhawar regions.

Rabin Chaudhary, the park’s assistant conservation officer, said a majority of the animals lived in the Bhawar region where water was scarce for most parts of a year.

As a result, he said, more and more animals were migrating to the south in search of water in the recent years.

The Rapti river flows near the park’s buffer zone where most animals migrate during dry season to quench their thirst. But a new problem has risen as a result of migration.

Chaudhary said the incidence of the park’s animals being hit by vehicles while crossing the highway has increased significantly in the recent times.

Seventy-one animals were killed after being hit by vehicles in the past 11 months, according to the park’s records. The park authority believe that the animals that got killed in the highway were trying to get to the Rapti river to drink water.

Spread across 893 sq km in Banke, Dang and Salyan districts, the park is home to 32 mammal species, including Bengal tiger, and more than 300 bird kinds.