KATHMANDU — When researcher Kumar Paudel from the NGO Greenhood Nepal received permission to carry out a genetic study to determine the distribution of the two species of pangolins in Nepal, he submitted some samples sourced from the Chitwan-Parsa landscape to a lab in Nepal. The permission’s condition was that the lab tests needed to be carried out in Nepal. The lab where he submitted the samples took around two years to come up with results. “The results we received were far from satisfactory,” Paudel said. Researchers are not allowed to take biological samples abroad even for scientific study. While the official reason is a lack of legislation, researchers say they believe it is due to a fear of biopiracy. This is happening even as labs in the country aren’t well-equipped or have quality human resources to do the tests. Another researcher working on big cats in Nepal also had a bad experience. The researcher submitted his samples to a lab in Nepal that identified the cat as belonging to some already extinct ancestor. “Although I couldn’t take the samples, I sent the data generated from it abroad and got more accurate results,” said the researcher, who didn’t want to be named for fear of retribution. Any kind of wildlife-related research requires permits from the Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation (DNPWC), which lays down several terms and conditions for researchers, including that they use government-run or government-supported labs for genetic work. “However, most of the time the two…This article was originally published on Mongabay
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