It isn't an endangered species like the tiger or snow leopard, but Nepal's common stag beetle is gaining a similarly cult status abroad. The beetles are in high demand in Japan where people fork out many yen to watch them fight and reportedly pay $30,000-40,000 a pair. Five of the 300 species of the bug in Nepal are especially popular. The insects, found all along the Mahabharat Chure range, from Ilam in the east to Dadeldhura in the west at an altitude 1,800-2,500m, are smuggled into Japan. Says Janardan dhakal, a CITES consultant with the Department of Wildlife and National Parks: "They're not listed in the Convention Against International Trade in Endangered Species but that does not mean it's legal to carry out a trade in them without informing the Nepali authorities." Wildlife officials suggest the beetles can be exported after the sustainability of the species is ensured and matters of revenue sorted out.