ABSTRACT
This chapter aims to explain the trends of symbiotic pathways among Chepang, bats (Eonycteris spelaea and others), and butter tree (BT). The BT or Nepal Butter Fruit (Chiuri: Nepali; Madhupushpa: Sanskrit; Yoshi, Yelsi, or Waksi: Chepang). It is a deciduous tree that belongs to the family Sapotaceae. The Chepang possessing large numbers of butter trees are regarded as affluent and superior in their community. The field and interview surveys found that when negative pressure on bats (hunting, natural calamities, diseases) was increased, bat populations, BT productivity, and their economic status decreased. In contrast, when the pressure on bats was reduced, bat populations, BT productivity, and their economic status were subsequently increased. While bats are one of the members in symbiotic triads, they have been suffering from the hunting pressure by the Chepang as well as other local people in the study area.
