Surkhet, April 29 -- Surya Narayan Shahi, the head of the endangered and nomadic Raute community, passed away on Monday night at around 9:30 pm.

He had been leading one of the two Raute groups currently living in Karnali Province, according to social worker Lal Bahadur Khatri of the Social Service Centre (SOSEC) Nepal.

His death has been attributed to excessive alcohol consumption.

Surya Narayan had been appointed as chief in May 2015.

The Raute, Nepal's last nomadic indigenous group, traditionally live in forested areas, moving periodically to avoid overexploitation of natural resources.

Currently, the Raute population is split between two main camps: one in Sotkhola, Barahatal Rural Municipality-8, led by Surya Narayan, and another...