On June 5, 41 year old Asmita Tharu was watching her husband plow their field as she rested under a tree. That was the last thing eye witnesses recall before they saw Tharu wrestling with a royal Bengal tiger.
Her husband and villagers working in nearby farms quickly gathered hearing her panic screams and chased the tiger away. Tharu, who has suffered multiple injuries in hands and legs, is receiving treatment at a hospital in nearby regional city Nepalgunj and is out of danger.
Human wildlife conflict has become increasingly common in recent years in Nepal. While for most incidents this would be the extent of coverage, Tharu’s story has taken on an unprecedented turn. It has now snowballed into a deadly protest with thousands of people taking to the streets of Bardiya, Tharu’s district.
The trouble started brewing a day after the attack when locals of Bardiya — angered by frequent wildlife attacks in their areas— took to the streets to draw the attention of local authorities. The protesters blocked the Gulariya-Bardiya road section, demanding proper fencing around human settlements to stop tigers and other wildlife from entering their villages.
As they blocked the roads for hours, burning tyres and chanting slogans against the state’s apathy, the local administration made no serious effort to reach out to them according to the protesters. It instead dispatched police to clear the road who fired live bullets at the unarmed mass.
Nabina Chaudhary, 18, Asmita’s niece, was shot dead. Another protester, Rakesh Chaudhary was seriously injured by the police firing. Many others have been severely beaten as outraged protesters clashed with the police.
Protestors accuse the police of preventing them from taking Nabina to hospital. “Relatives were trying to go towards Nabina. Police didn’t allow them to go there. She breathed her last on the spot,” said Kalu Ram, chairperson of Chamelidevi Community Forestry Users’ Group. “Both the tiger and police are killing us. We are praying for peace and safety”, he added.
Two days after the incident, home minister Bal Krishna Khand, responding to queries from lawmakers, told parliament that police had opened fire without order from higher rank officials.
“There was no order to open fire,” minister Khand said before announcing a five member probe committee to investigate the indiscriminate shooting that happened during the protest.
In recent years, tigers have been spotted not just in Terai plains but also in areas which were not considered homes for tigers. In December 2020, CCTV cameras had captured a tiger at an elevation of 3165 meters in Ilam district of East Nepal. A year earlier, a tiger was spotted at an elevation of 2500 meters in Dadeldhura. According to the WWF, there are only 3,900 tigers left in the wild across the world, down from an estimated 100,000 a century ago.
Nepal is on course of reaching its goal of doubling the population of tigers in its territory by 2022. The country had at least 235 tigers in 2019, while the number was 121 in 2009. Nepal is among the 13 countries which committed to doubling their big cat population by 2022 during the St. Petersburg Tiger Summit in 2010. According to the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), going by the current growth rate, Nepal could become the first among the 13 countries to meet the commitment.
But this success come at a cost. Nepal’s wildlife conservation policies have long been under scanner for discrimination and use of brute force against indigenous population. Ethnic Tharu, Bote, Danuwar, Dhimal, Chhepang have found themselves at the receiving end of policies that prioritizes wildlife over their lives. These communities– many not used to traditional farming– have historically relied on forests and its resources for their livelihood. They are prohibited from entering the forests and are under the vigilance of security forces. Those found sneaking into the forests are arrested, tortured or even shot dead. In 2010, the Nepal Army had killed three women who were collecting fodder and firewood in the forest of Bardiya National Park.
Bhadai Tharu, a Bardiya local who turned to conservation after surviving a tiger attack, said that easy prey like cattle is luring increasing number of tigers to human settlements near Bardiya National Park. Bardiya is a district that has become a role model for the rest of the country for its unprecedented success in reviving tigers.
Experts say that wildlife attacks are becoming very common in recent years. Growing number of wildlife in face of their shrinking habitat has forced many animals to enter into human settlement. Earlier, most attacks would take place inside forests or community forests that served as a buffer between the park and human settlements.
“Now I often see tigers roaming near human settlements, an occurrence that used to be rare before. The shrinking habitat in the backdrop of the growing tiger population could be one of the reasons. Something needs to be done immediately to address these problems because encounters between humans and tigers could lead to more conflicts and tragedies,” said Bhadai.
Cases of wildlife attacks have increased significantly around national parks in the country’s lowland including Chitwan National Park, Parsa Wildlife Reserve, Bardiya National Park, Banke National Park and Shuklaphanta Wildlife National Park. These parks are home to some of the most endangered species including Royal Bengal Tiger, one horned rhino and asian elephant. At least 13 people have been killed in animal attack around Chitwan National Park in this fiscal year, according to the park record. In Bardiya alone, at least 23 have been killed by tigers in the last three years.
The worst affected are people living in villages like Madhuban. Madhuban -just 25 kilometers west from Gulariya, Bardiya’s district headquarter – is a major wildlife corridor from where tigers and rhinos reaches India’s Khata National Park and return.
Locals residing in such villages near the national park said that they live under constant fear of wildlife and security forces. The administration has been doing little to protect villagers except providing them some compensation in case of death and injuries.
“People have been killed by tigers while herding goats, collecting edibles like mushroom and fiddlehead fern in the community forest. Previously, locals used to collect compensation and remain silent even if their loved ones were killed,” said Kalu Ram adding, “This time, a tiger attacked us at our field, just half a kilometer away from my house. Another woman Kaushila Shahi was killed by tiger just two weeks ago.”
Fearing tiger attack, locals have stopped going to the forest to collect even essentials like wild berries, wild vegetables, firewood and fodders for cattle.
“But people are getting killed even without entering the forests. This was the reason we protested,” said Kalu Ram.
Thakur Bhandari, a leader of community forest rights, who visited the injured people in Bardiya, said the police firing at locals was deadlier than wildlife attack. “Protesters were preparing to issue a press statement and end their protest,” said Bhandari, “Killing peaceful protesters that too without order from the district administrator is an unforgivable crime.”
Community rights activists say just focusing on doubling tiger population at the cost of killing people reliant on forest is a criminal act. “Without any scientific research on Nepal’s capacity to protect tigers and forest area, our leaders agreed to increase tiger population,” said Bhandari, “Because of their haphazard policies, people are dying.”
