CHINDANDA CAVE

Herbert Daniel Gebauer - 06/01/2018

Among the unspecified bat caves near Pokhara, which PHUYAL (2007) mentions by name, is one Chindanda Cave. ETYMOLOGY: Chindanda (PHUYAL 2007) translates as -small / little hill- and seems to refer either to the village of Chhinnedanda (note 1) or to the isolated small hill .857 after which the village is called (note 2). SITUATION: At an unspecified location somewhere in the vicinity of Pokhara (PHUYAL 2007) and --but this is mere guesswork-- above the orographically left (locally eastern) bank of the Seti River. POSITION: WASTI & ACHARYA (2011: 332 table 1 site no. 5) provide a GPS position which, by mistake, is attributed to the –>Peace Cave near Hemja, Hengja, or Hyangja but actually positions the Chindanda Cave (note 5). CAVE LIFE: According to PHUYAL (2007: 28), Chindanda Cave is an endangered Pteropus roosting site (Chiroptera: Megachiroptera: Pteropus giganteus Desmarest 1820), the Indian flying fox, a fruit bat.Among the unspecified bat caves near Pokhara, which PHUYAL (2007) mentions by name, is one Chindanda Cave. ETYMOLOGY: Chindanda (PHUYAL 2007) translates as -small / little hill- and seems to refer either to the village of Chhinnedanda (note 1) or to the isolated small hill .857 after which the village is called (note 2). SITUATION: At an unspecified location somewhere in the vicinity of Pokhara (PHUYAL 2007) and --but this is mere guesswork-- above the orographically left (locally eastern) bank of the Seti River. POSITION: WASTI & ACHARYA (2011: 332 table 1 site no. 5) provide a GPS position which, by mistake, is attributed to the –>Peace Cave near Hemja, Hengja, or Hyangja but actually positions the Chindanda Cave (note 5). CAVE LIFE: According to PHUYAL (2007: 28), Chindanda Cave is an endangered Pteropus roosting site (Chiroptera: Megachiroptera: Pteropus giganteus Desmarest 1820), the Indian flying fox, a fruit bat.