Most protected areas in Bhutan are threatened. A major risk is being posed by poaching and fire. The poachers mainly prey on musk deer, blood pheasant and black bear.

Musk pod, musk skin, bear bile, rhino horn and snow leopard skin have huge markets in Nepal and India, states a report of the nature conservation division (NCD). The NCD document also reveals that between 1997 and 2001, a total of 99,894 hectares of forest was destroyed by fire. Grazing, timber felling and road construction are also denuding forests.