A team of geologists and sedimentologists from Japan and Tribhuvan University (TU) have discovered 40,000 and 24,000 years old footprints of elephants respectively on two separate soil sediments in Kathmandu Valley.
These two finds suggest that elephants lived in the Valley in those ages, according to geologists.
“To our knowledge, nobody has found such imprints on soil sediments that old anywhere else in the world,” said Dr. Tetsuya Sakai, Sedimentologist from Shimane University in Japan. He also said that in the research period along sand-mining areas in Thimi and Gokarna, many strange deformations of elephant footprints and toed-ungulates (having hooves) were found and we could scientifically infer that elephant treadings had caused the deformations
The age of the footprints and sediments were measured with carbon dating, an international instrument for measuring the age of soil
Japanese geologists, ecologists and sedimentologist, in collaboration with geologists of TU, have been regularly conducting research on geological, cultural and natural landscapes and topography of Kathmandu Valley since 1998. However, the footprints in the Valley were this time discovered by a team comprising Prof. B.N. Upreti and Ananta Prasad Gajurel from Geology Department at Tri Chandra Campus, TU; and Dr. Tetsuya Sakai, from Shimane University in Japan and Dr. Hideo Tabata from Gifu Academy of Forest Science and Culture in Japan
“We had never seen anything like this anywhere during our research in any part of the country including Kathmandu Valley,” said Dr. Hideo Tabata. Adding that they needed animal fossils for more evidence for further confirmation of their interpretation, he said, “We are very sure that these evidences can be found on the soil sediments around sand-mining areas. Therefore we urge sand mine workers to contact us if they find fossils, namely bones and teeth without breaking the site of the finding,” he added. “These are treasures of Nepal and they need to be further conserved in museums, instead of destroying or letting them go unnoticed."
He also said he is socked by the fast pace of development activities in the Valley, which are destroying the historical, cultural and natural landscapes in such a way that Nepal can never recover its lost greenery and healthy treasures.
These two finds suggest that elephants lived in the Valley in those ages, according to geologists.
“To our knowledge, nobody has found such imprints on soil sediments that old anywhere else in the world,” said Dr. Tetsuya Sakai, Sedimentologist from Shimane University in Japan. He also said that in the research period along sand-mining areas in Thimi and Gokarna, many strange deformations of elephant footprints and toed-ungulates (having hooves) were found and we could scientifically infer that elephant treadings had caused the deformations
The age of the footprints and sediments were measured with carbon dating, an international instrument for measuring the age of soil
Japanese geologists, ecologists and sedimentologist, in collaboration with geologists of TU, have been regularly conducting research on geological, cultural and natural landscapes and topography of Kathmandu Valley since 1998. However, the footprints in the Valley were this time discovered by a team comprising Prof. B.N. Upreti and Ananta Prasad Gajurel from Geology Department at Tri Chandra Campus, TU; and Dr. Tetsuya Sakai, from Shimane University in Japan and Dr. Hideo Tabata from Gifu Academy of Forest Science and Culture in Japan
“We had never seen anything like this anywhere during our research in any part of the country including Kathmandu Valley,” said Dr. Hideo Tabata. Adding that they needed animal fossils for more evidence for further confirmation of their interpretation, he said, “We are very sure that these evidences can be found on the soil sediments around sand-mining areas. Therefore we urge sand mine workers to contact us if they find fossils, namely bones and teeth without breaking the site of the finding,” he added. “These are treasures of Nepal and they need to be further conserved in museums, instead of destroying or letting them go unnoticed."
He also said he is socked by the fast pace of development activities in the Valley, which are destroying the historical, cultural and natural landscapes in such a way that Nepal can never recover its lost greenery and healthy treasures.
