People are both happy and scared about the return of tigers in Nepal

 

Nepal has achieved the astonishing feat of doubling its population of endangered tigers in the past 10 years, but local populations are paying the price in the form of increased tiger attacks. .

Captain Ayush Jung Bindra Rana, a member of the unit tasked with protecting these big cats, says, "When you encounter a tiger, two kinds of feelings come to mind."

'Oh God, what a magnificent beast, and oh God, is it time for me to die?'

When they go on armed patrols in the dense forests and vast plains of the Bardiya National Park, the largest and most inaccessible to humans in the Terai region of Nepal, they often spot Bengal tigers.

A total ban on tiger hunting in Nepal has contributed to their conservation. Army units support national park teams and community anti-poaching units in buffer zones adjacent to the park monitor natural forests that allow tigers or tigers to roam safely.

One such strip of land, the Khata Corridor, connects Bardia National Park with the Katarnia Ghat Wildlife Sanctuary across the border in India.

But the return of tigers has created threats to people living on the park's border.

Manoj Gattam, an environmental business owner and conservationist, says the community lives in fear.

The shared habitat of tigers, prey species and humans is very narrow. The community has paid a price for doubling the number of tigers in Nepal.

In the last 12 months, 16 people have been killed by tigers in Nepal. A total of 10 people died in the last five years.

Most of the attacks occurred when villagers went to the national park or buffer zones to graze cattle or collect fruits, mushrooms and firewood.

In some cases, tigers have ventured out of parks and nature corridors into villages. Fences have been erected to separate wildlife and humans, but animals break through them.

A century ago, the population of tigers was around 100,000, spread across different parts of Asia. By the 2000s, their numbers had declined by 95 percent, largely due to hunting, poaching, and loss of the forests that used to be their habitat. Currently, the number of tigers living in the forests has reduced to less than 4,000.

Spread over 968 square kilometers, the Bardiya area was given the status of a National Park in 1988 to protect the endangered tigers. At that time, these areas used to be royal hunting grounds.

In 2010, 13 countries where tigers are found pledged to take steps to increase their numbers in their territories to bring them out of danger of extinction.

So far only Nepal has met its target.

The number of tigers in Nepal has increased from 121 in 2009 to 300 in more than 10 years. These animals are mostly found in five national parks of the country. Apart from this, there has been an increase in the number of other wild animals including rhinoceros, elephants and leopards.

To provide a good and healthy environment for the tigers, the authorities have developed more grassy fields. Several ponds have also been constructed there to create a favorable environment for deer. In this way the tigers also get a chance to hunt them.

Bardiya National Park chief warden Bishnu Sharastra denies that such human activities, which are increasing the tiger population, are worsening the situation.

There is now plenty of space and hunting in the National Park. Our management approach to tigers is sustainable.

People living around Bardiya National Park have been largely supportive of tiger conservation efforts, but their concern is growing as the number of tigers increases.

"Tourists come here to see the tigers, but we have to live with them," says Samkhana, a local resident whose mother-in-law was killed in a tiger attack last year.

Samkhana's mother-in-law was cutting grass for her cattle just inside the border of the national park when the tiger attacked them.

Taking her mother-in-law's photo in her hands, Samkhana said in a full voice that she loved her mother-in-law more than her mother.

"In the years to come, more families like mine will suffer and the number of victims of attacks will increase," Tamkhana warns.

Apart from the farms in this area, these tigers also enter the nearby villages.

In March this year, Lily Chaudhary, a resident of Senabgar, a village on the edge of Bardia National Park, went to feed her pigs near her house. The villagers found him badly injured as a result of the tiger attack. After some time he died.

His younger sister Ashmita Tharo says, "Since then we are all afraid to go alone to feed the pigs.

People rose up in protest after a leopard attacked Ashmita Tharo and her husband in Bhadai Tharo's village on June 6. A week before this incident, a person had died in a tiger attack in a nearby forest.

Around 300 people gathered on the street to protest and demand the authorities to take more measures to protect them.

People set the community forest office on fire. When the police came, they also threw stones at him. A girl named Nabeena Chaudhry, who was the niece of the husband and wife who were attacked by Tinve, was killed by police firing.

Nabina's brother Nabin Tharo was also present nearby at that time.

"I wanted to take my sister's body away but the police were beating people badly. My sister had done nothing wrong. Is it wrong to ask for security and protection for yourself?

The Nepalese government announced a compensation of $16,000 to Nabin's family and promised to erect a statue of him as a 'martyr'. But his family is demanding a full investigation.

The tension was followed by the signing of an agreement between the locals and the authorities to build more fences and walls to keep the wildlife and the local population away from each other.

In Nepal, when a tiger kills a human, the tiger is found and imprisoned. Currently, seven such tigers are in captivity.

Captain Ayush says, "Protection of lions is our responsibility, but protection of people is also our duty."

When there are more tigers and there are more people around them, there will be danger and conflict. Coexistence between these two is a challenge.

The authorities are trying to provide alternative employment to those people whose daily life depends on the National Park.

In this regard, people are being trained to start a small business or become associated with the tourism department.

Bhadai Tharo calls a meeting of his tiger conservation team and tells them that a misunderstanding has divided humans and wildlife.

Our forest is the home of the tiger. If we intrude into their habitat, they will get angry. If we let our goats go to the forest to graze, they will attack them.

Bhadai Tharo's team is making plans to provide safer feed for the cattle and to establish cattle pastures in the forests adjacent to the national park so that there are large numbers of deer for the tigers to hunt and not attack humans.

Classes are also being organized to increase the understanding of the youth about wildlife. Children are being taught about the temperament of tigers and are told not to go alone in the forest.

Bhadai says he tries to convince people that tigers also have a right to live. Why should only humans get this right?