March 25: The yellow breasted bunting, an endangered species of bird, has been spotted in the buffer zone of Shuklaphanta National Park.

Locally known as Bagale Bagedi, the rare bird species was seen for the first time in the area, said Suwan Chaudhary, a conservationist. He said that a flock of the bird was seen in the field of a local farmer in Dhaknia, Shuklaphanta Municipality-2.

Meanwhile, Hirulal Dagaura, ornithologist at Bird Conservation Nepal, said that the bird was first documented in Shuklaphanta National Park in 1980. This bird has reached the point of extinction from the world after it was hunted excessively for its meat.

"The number of yellow breasted bunting has been found to have decreased by 90 percent in the last decade," said Dagaura. Just a few years ago the number of the bird in Nepal was in thousands but now it has been limited to around 30.

The bird is found in Kailali, Kanchanpur, Bardiya, Chitwan, Jhapa along with some districts of Madhes province. -- RSS