Hunting of Chir pheasant, known locally as Chir Kalij, has been going unchecked in various villages in Jajarkot district.  

Of late, the poaching of the endangered bird species is rife in Nayakbada, Rokayagaun, Ragda, Bhagawati, Dhime, Sakla, Ramidanda, Lahun, Jhapra, Sima, Khagenkot among other VDCs in the district. 

Chir Kalij (Catreus wallichii) is one of nine protected birds in Nepal. But villagers are killing the endangered bird due to the lack of awareness, said Govindra Bahadur Singh, a local conservationist.

According to Singh, the villagers poach Chir Kalij using trap and sell it at Rs 500 rupees in the local market. “Chir Kalij has been threatened due to rampant deforestation and encroachment. It can be extinct if the hunting is not checked at the earliest,” he said, complaining that no institution has taken any initiatives so far for the protection of the endangered bird species. A study by a group of ornithologists on Chir Kalij in various villages in the district two years ago, suggested that the species were found in abundance in Jajarkot district. The local people blamed the government authorities’ failure to take legal action against the poachers as per the existing legal provision.