After ascending above four thousand meters altitudes, I arrived at a place named Lamela Buki. This is the upper section of the Dhorpatan valley of Baglung district, western Nepal.
This part of valleys consists of pastures
(land) suitable for grazing and raring cattle.
So, every year, the locals from this valley of Dhorpatan arrive here with their cattle for months in May to June and return in
August to September.
Along with the animals, herders bring
massive dogs to look after their livestock. Thick furs, huge body structures ,
and long dropping ears are the specialities of these dogs. Their roaring like
barking is even more special. These dogs aren’t ordinary like others. These are
Nepali 'Bhote Kukur' , popularly known as 'Tibetan Mastiff' responsible for
herding after the sheep, goats, and cattle in the solitude shed.
In Lamela Kharka, I met Sandesh Thapa. He arrived at this place after walking for two
days from Dhorpatan Valley. It is not only one
year, but he treks up to here every year. Everyone here gets amazed at hearing
the reason behind his visit to this high land . Love and passion for
these massive dogs drive him every year. Since a few past years, he has been
continuously dedicated in the field of research and preservation of these
native dogs of Nepal.
He visits every shed of the cattle,
including the sheep and goats. His astonishing ability and speciality is that
he could handle these unknown aggressive dogs so easily & feeds the
capsules against roundworms to each dog. For hours, he enjoys accompanying
those peculiar dogs, and even the dogs jump, play carelessly with him.
He feels that his life is a divine for the
preservation of this breed. It has been years he has been enjoying with these dogs. He shared his long
experiences with them to me of
those initial days.
...........
He was born in Pakhathar, Dhorpatan. He had
spent his childhood playing in the valley and spending time at sheds in upper
Dhorpatan. He used to spend time by collecting grass and looking after animals
in the sheds. Along with him, he had few dogs to look after these domestic animals. It was his and his dogs' duty
to bring the cattle back safely
after grazing the whole day. In fact, he used to spend months with those
herders.
In courses of time, for further
studies, he left his village and spent
some years in Palpa and Pokhara cities. But how could he
forget all those childhood memories and reminiscences ? Whenever there
was a vacation in his school, he used to be back to the village and spend time
with those herders.
Later, when he reached there, not only
was there a decline in the number of
sheds and the cattle but also of those
dogs that looked after all of those cattle.
He thought of himself that if the number of
these native and indigenous dogs declined at this rate, one day they would be
extinct from the entire Nepal. So, he
decided to join a mission for preserving
them in Nepal.
At first, he was all alone in this prominent mission. Later, his friend Bijay Poudel from
Pokhara joined with him. Conjointly and collaboratel, two of these friends incepted the 'Bhote Kukur Kennel Native Tibetan Mastiff
Breeding Center' project in Pokhara.
This project has been constantly and
relentlessly working for research and conservation of this native dog species
in Nepal on their own.
For breeding and selling of other breed
dogs, there are many kennel houses and pet shops throughout the country, but there are no practices for this breed,
says Bijay.
Regarding the cente, he shares, 'In Nepal while different foreign
breeds of dogs get priority, but Nepali native breed 'Bhote Kukur' breeding
work has been neglected and beyond notice. In the future, there is a high chance of its extinction
from the entire country. Although our
little effort for its preservation won't
bring a drastic change, we are hopeful for(of?) bringing positivity for its
conservation.'
It wasn’t so easy for their dreams to come
true. The Covid pandemic hit worldwide when they were planning for this
project. So, the pandemic had postponed and lagged their dream project further
two years back.
His co-partner Bijay remembers of the
initial struggling days, 'It wasn’t so
easy for us to convert our dreams into reality.Int the beginning,
neither had we enough capital nor were we skilled enough to run this
center effectively. We visited different centers to gather more technical and
administrative ideas to run the center. We used the barren land available along
with my house for establishing this centre. The main challenging task was to
collect these dogs and bring them here.'
The number of these dogs is already very
limited in Nepal. Sandesh visited the western part of Nepal while Bijay headed
to the east in search of them. They
could find many mixed mutts species of these dogs, but it was really a very
challenging task to find a pure breed of the
Tibetan Mastiff.
The dogs which they found were usually
aged, which could hardly breed for, even less than a couple of times. Still, they paid good money
to collect them to their Pokhara center.
All dogs are synonymous to honesty and
dutyfulness. Sandesh finds such characteristics more in Bhote Kukur. Two
friends conjointly have started this
breeding center with the mission of supporting the preservation of this breed of Nepal rather than the motive for
(profit) business. Sandesh shares, "We started this centre with our
very limited capital, manpower and
little resources. Although we couldn’t bring drastic outcomes, we are content
with our efforts. With time, we have aimed to leading this center as a study
and research centre of the Tibetan Mastiff in Nepal."
Rather than spending time with people, he
spends more and more time with these dogs these days . We find him cleaning the
rooms and compartments of the dogs and playing with them in the center. At leisure, he visits
different highland sheds for awareness campaigns regarding the preservation of
this breed /species of dogs.
Why are
the number of these native dogs declining?
In-breeding within the same family has
resulted to the degradation of the gene of this sub-species. Like the other animals, there is no strict practice of
mating between males and females in dogs. In rural areas, people are
ignorant and unknown about the negative impacts of in-breeding within
the closely-related families of the dogs.
Similarly, there is a very low rate of
fertility in this breed of dogs. While
other species of dogs reproduce twice to thrice in a year, the Tibetan Mastiff
reproduces only once in a year. Lack of
proper nutrition and care, diseases, and improper management are some
particular threats to this breed of
dogs. In our Nepali society, the tradition of disregarding daughters has
been established. This is the fate the dog also has to suffer. The custom of
rearing the newborn male puppy and killing the female puppies as soon as they
are born is still in vogue. The very existence of this species is in jeopardy
because many people want to raise a male puppy, but doesn't want to adopt the
female that it gives birth to those males. That is why Sandesh suggests and
urges to raise females to revive the endangered dog.
Misconceptions regarding the Tibetan
Mastiff(Bhote Kukur):
In the
21st century, there are still many misconceptions and superstition
beliefs regarding the Tibetan Mastiff. There exists a belief that a dog with
twenty-two claws on feet will be pure, stronger, and more aggressive than
others, which can fight against tigers too. But there is no scientific proof
behind this belief. This has misled or encouraged many dog-lovers to pay good money for these dogs,
whatever their quality of gene. This rumour is even circulated by different
online media and the YouTubers.
Another prevailing misconception is the
practice of lifting dogs up by holding its ears to judge out its purity. While
lifting this dog up by holding the ears, if it makes (a) sounds, it is
categorized as a mixed one; if it
doesn’t, it is conceived as a pure breed. But this, too, does not bear any scientific proof behind this practice.
Neglected native Tibetan Mastiff:
Dog has always been a close friend for
human beings. There is a long history of
human-dog relation till now. In the present context, people are more interested
in fanciful and new breeds of dogs. Foreign brands of dogs are not only
expensive but also cost a huge amount of
money for their food, medicine, and security.
Such breeds can't easily adapt to the
new environment of our country. On the other hand, native Tibetan
Mastiff is comparatively cheaper and more adaptable in Nepal's environment.
Similarly,
there is no proper support from NGOs and INGOs for the preservation of
this native breed. The government has invested a huge budget for study,
research, and preservation of many species of plants and animals, but the
Tibetan Mastiff has always been neglected and beyond notice. Nepal government
should act for branding this dog worldwide.
At last, it has already been three years,
and Sandesh and Bijay have been
conjointly running this center. At present, there are 15 -20 Tibetan Mastiffs they have
been caring. They have a dream of increasing the number of dogs in coming days to
represent this centre as one of the
leading centers for study, research, and preservation of this breed.
We express our best wishes for both of them
in this mission.
------///-------
If you want to support in this mission, you
can be connected with centre in given details.
Whatsapp number +9779867376002 Sandesh
Thapa.
+977 984-6360927 Bijay Poudel.
pokharabhotekukurbreeder@gmail.com
Thankyou for your time.
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