Threats in Nepal - Human-animal conflicts

Under pressure from shrinking habitats

"Conservation in Nepal is at crossroads", says Dr. Chandra Gurung, Country Representative for the WWF Nepal. "The number of animals has grown, but the protected areas are still the same. Thus, conflicts between humans and animals have increased." Dr. Gurung points out that now it is of utmost importance to find solutions to these conflicts.

The most common type of conflict is of animals appearing on fields, eating and trampling the crops. This spells disaster for small-scale farmers with low income as their only food supply for months may get destroyed overnight. In the TAL project, several ways to help prevent conflicts have been introduced. 

The incredible tale of Bhadai Tharu
Tigers sometimes kill livestock. On rare occasions, they have also attacked people. Bhadai Tharu is one of the people who have had a tragic encounter with the striped giant cat. He is lucky to have survived to tell the story.

"One day in the year 2004, I entered our community forest together with some other people, to collect grass for thatching", he recalls. "The grass that we walked through was tall and dense. All of a sudden I heard this loud roar, and a tiger attacked me."

Left without an eye
All the others, unarmed and unable to help, were immensely frightened and fled. Tharu was wrestling with the tiger and got deep wounds from the claws. When the tiger stopped fighting and went away, the severely wounded man realized he did not have his left eye any more. His cry brought back his companions, who quickly took him to a hospital.

After more than a month in the hospital, Tharu recovered and returned back to his normal life - to promote conservation, including that of tigers. An active promoter of conservation, Tharu's dedication did not diminish, even after this incident. Nowadays, he is the treasurer of Khata community forest coordination committee, and a respected figure in his village.

With a solemn and sincere look, he states: "I will try my best for conservation, and my future life is for it. People need forests. If there are forests and jungles, people are happy. And if there are forests, there will be wildlife. We must be able to coexist." The same tiger still resides in the area, but it hasn't attacked anyone since. Several cows have, however, been eaten.