Leopard kills a woman in Bardiya community forest amid rising big cat attacks
Incident comes a week after a man was killed by a tiger nearby, as locals say growing wildlife populations have made daily life increasingly unsafe.
PC: Photo via Wikimedia Commons
A 53-year-old woman was killed by a leopard on Wednesday afternoon while collecting fodder in a community forest in Bardiya district, heightening fears among locals following a series of deadly wildlife attacks in the area.
Parwati Dangi was attacked in Fenapati Community Forest while she and five other women were gathering fodder. According to local resident Ishwor GC, the leopard emerged from behind and attacked Dangi while collecting branches nearby.
“The other women screamed, and the leopard fled,” GC said. “One of them called a villager for help.”
Villagers reached the site about 10 to 15 minutes later, following the cries of the women who had scattered in panic after the attack. Dangi had already died by the time they arrived.
Initially, villagers suspected a tiger attack, but witnesses later identified the animal as a large leopard.
The incident comes just a week after a 32-year-old man, Dinesh Chaudhari, was killed by a tiger roughly 1.5 kilometres from the same location.
Dinesh’s neighbour, Bhagiram Chaudhari, said at least five people have been killed and two others injured by tiger attacks in the area over the past three months.
“All of these attacks happened in broad daylight and around the same area,” he said. “People are living in constant fear.”
Fenapati Community Forest lies outside the buffer zone of Bardiya National Park, meaning attacks there fall beyond the formal responsibility of park authorities and the district forest office. However, Bardiya National Park is one of Nepal’s key tiger habitats.
The park is connected to wildlife corridors linking Nepal and India, including the Kamdi and Khata corridors, which allow Royal Bengal tigers to move between Nepal’s Bardiya National Park and India’s Suhelwa and Katarniaghat wildlife sanctuaries.
Nepal has recorded a sharp increase in its tiger population in recent years. After pledging in 2010 to double its tiger numbers under the global TX2 initiative, the country nearly tripled its wild tiger population—from about 121 in 2009 to 355 in 2022.
Last week, Nepal launched the Fifth National Tiger Survey at Chitwan National Park to assess the current status and distribution of tigers nationwide. The survey will cover national parks, buffer zones, and forest areas outside protected regions.
Despite conservation successes, residents say they feel increasingly unsafe.
“We cannot feel safe even during the day, let alone at night,” said Bhagiram Chaudhari.
Ishwor GC said villagers have repeatedly raised concerns with local authorities and park officials. “We have held several meetings, but nothing has changed,” he said. “We are on our own.”
