The eventual physical effect of this cultural shift was a breaking up of the formerly continuous ecosystem of the terai, and replacing it with restricted pockets of residual wild habitat. It is true that the Ranas maintained traditional hunting reserves for tigers, including those in Chitwan, Bardia, and Shuklaphanta, and that they engaged in tiger hunting on a massive scale, in elaborate hunts designed to demonstrate their authority, and later, as we well know, to curry favor with foreign guests. And the Tharu would indeed continue to work at the hattisar in such places, patiently awaiting
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