In order to protect the main crops like rice, corn and wheat from the wild elephants and one-horned rhinoceros coming out of the park, farmers surrounded the fields with bare wire and left electricity on them.

But this time, a person died after falling into such a dangerous trap. A rhinoceros and a human have died on the same day in two places in the central area of Chitwan park. 

33-year-old Lal Bahadur Moktan, a resident of Chitwan Rapti Municipality-1, was found dead in his paddy field in Makwanpur Manhari Rural Municipality-6 Jogital on Wednesday morning. Chitwan National Park has informed that he died due to the current that was left uncontrollably around the paddy fields to prevent animals including rhinoceros from entering the field. The area falls under Lothar Intermediate Consumer Committee of Chitwan Park .

The news that a person was found dead did not come, a rhinoceros was found dead in a paddy field on Wednesday morning in Madi Municipality-2 Bhairavpur under the Panchpandab Intermediate Consumer Committee in the southern region of Chitwan. The preliminary investigation of the park has shown that the rhinoceros died when it was electrocuted by the electric fence used by the local Haribhakt Shrestha to protect rice. 

There are also legal ways to fence wild animals. But in these cases, the electric fence that kills people and rhinos is not a legal measure. The electric wire that only shocks the animals by sending electricity in a controlled manner has been in use for a long time in the central area . Animals run away after being shocked when they touch the wire . "Even if you see a shocked rhinoceros without a power line, it will not come close," said Shivji Gaik, chairman of Madi's wildlife-affected Ayodhyapuri Intermediate Consumer Committee.

But it is difficult to stop a wild elephant with such a shock wire . In both the places where the incident happened on Wednesday, both wild elephants and rhinoceros eat the crops and harass them. Rhinoceros come to eat the paddy when it is green, and when it is time to hide, a group of wild elephants come and damage it . Although concrete walls have been put up in some areas to prevent elephants, there is no such wall in Madi and Manhari. Controlled electric wire is also old and not effective .

In the Manhari Jogital area, the intermediate consumer committee first made a systematic and controlled electric fence that gave only shocks . "That got old, it didn't work". Later, the ward also did it . It also stopped working . Now that area was like a fenceless area," said Man Bahadur Sangbo, chairman of Lothar Intermediate Consumer Committee of Chitwan Park. There are many large animals that damage crops.

According to the data of the Chitwan National Park Office, 456 incidents of crop damage occurred in the central area in the last financial year. Conservation officer Avinash Thapa Magar, who is the information officer of the park, informed that the most 255 incidents were from rhinos and 67 elephants. 100 incidents were caused by wild boars. 

There are 1 metropolis, 8 municipalities and 3 rural villages of Nawalparasi (East of Bardghat Susta), Makwanpur and Parsa along with Chitwan in the central area of Chitwan Park. Especially if the settlements in the middle region do not have strong fences, farmers are unable to protect their crops from wild animals. "It is not possible to build a concrete wall with the budget of a park or an intermediary". In the coming year, we got 40/42 lakh rupees . Now that is also decreasing . Installing a concrete wall costs crores, said Sangbo, president of Lothar Consumer Committee.

There are statistics of the park with a population of more than 300,000 in 45,000 households in the central area. Protecting people and crops from animals in the 728 square kilometer area has become very challenging. "The main settlements and farming areas have reached some form of security". There is a concrete wall somewhere . In some places, there is a mesh net and in most places an electric wire that only gives shocks," said Prakash Dhungana, chairman of the intermediate management committee of the park. But the shock wire has stopped working due to lack of maintenance. "Since two/three years, there has been an increase in illegal and uncontrolled electric fences," said Thapa Magar, information officer of the park. A controlled electric fence that only shocks is not risk-free . A young man died in Madi Ayodhyapuri in October 2080 after getting stuck in such a fence. On top of that, unregulated electric currents are completely dangerous. According to Chitwan Park, a rhinoceros died last financial year due to electrocution. From the financial year 073/74 to 2081/82, at least eight rhinos died due to electrocution.

The one-horned rhinoceros, which is very rare in the world, is a rare wild animal, and if it is killed or its parts are traded and trafficked, there is a legal provision of a fine of up to 10 lakh rupees and imprisonment for up to 15 years . After the death of a rhinoceros in the farm, the investigation and legal process starts against the farmer. Why are the farmers taking legal action and risking their lives for this illegal harvesting?

Due to the lack of strong and reliable fences, the compensation for the damage caused by animals is not enough, and the farmers are under pressure to protect their crops at all costs. Information officer of the park, Thapa Magar, said that if crops are damaged by wild animals, the farmers will get a relief of up to 10,000 rupees per crop. The damage caused by animals eating growing or ripening crops is greater than this .