Human-Wildlife Conflict: 15 children lost their lives in six years due to leopard attacks in Tanahun

Sundar's mother says that she still can't believe that her son was attacked and killed by a leopard while playing with her.

"After working in the field, we went home around 7 o'clock, I left the belongings in the house and went to the barn to water the buffaloes," she said, "my son was also with me." Deurani's house is near Goth. At one point I started gossiping with Deurani . The son went up to the house while playing mobile phone. I was sitting confidently thinking that my son would have reached home. Suddenly we heard our son crying and we all ran towards the sound. When I saw my son being attacked by a leopard, I jumped to cover my son . I have managed to catch both the son and the leopard. Later, the leopard ran away and we went to the hospital with our injured son.

She said that she could not save her son even though she took him to the hospital without thinking about whether he could be saved. We used to go back and forth between two houses until 9, 10 o'clock. "We never thought that this would happen," she said.

Now the residents of Salthan village are in a state of panic. Local prince Achami says that parents are afraid to leave their children alone and send them to school. "Leaving other jobs, they now go with their parents to bring children to school," he said.

According to Achami, who is also the uncle of the deceased Sundar, a few days later, the leopard was also seen walking on the road. Not only in the evening and morning, but now also during the day, there is a fear of leopards . He attacks and kills a child who is close to him. "There is a situation where we have to think about leaving children and women alone at home," he said.

There is a village with six families scattered in Salthan of Bandipur. In this village, which is surrounded by forests, after the latest incident, everything is deserted before evening. Due to the fear of leopards, the situation has come to be locked inside the house.

This is not the first case of leopards attacking children and killing them. 6-year-old Vishal Shrestha of Bhanu Municipality-3 Dordor was killed in a leopard attack on the day of Shivratri on February 1, 2074 in Tanahun. This incident is the first time a leopard has attacked children in Tanahun. Vishal, who had gone to Mamaghar, which is 500 meters away from his house, was attacked on the way while returning home from Mamaghar. His body was found half-eaten by a leopard.

Tanahun's Bhanu Municipality-2 is a leopard-affected area located in Tholkabagaincha. Photo: Remembrance/Kantipur

Similarly, 55-year-old Dilmaya Rai of Bhanu Municipality-2 Takkabagaincha still hasn't gotten rid of the fear of leopards. His little grandson, who lived with his two grandsons in a small bush near the forest, was attacked and taken away by a leopard while he was playing in the backyard on 12th July 2076. About 5 years have passed since this incident, but the fear in his heart has not gone away yet .
'I still can't forget that day,' she said, recalling the day the leopard attacked her grandson, 'two brothers were playing in the generation . I was sitting near them and cooking the evening meal . Suddenly, the elder grandson started shouting, "Baghbagh", so I jumped behind the leopard with a fire ring.' Although she could not find where the leopard had taken her grandson, she ran screaming, assuming that it was taken there because there was a forest above the house. "I went up towards the forest, begging," she said, "the leopard terror was spreading all over the village." The cheetah dragged the grandson to the house's forest and the cheetah abandoned the child and ran away. The child was found injured. She said, "Seeing that I was crying, the leopard left the grandson there."

The grandson was injured in the neck and head with a hook and teeth. The grandson who was found in an unconscious state was immediately taken to Dumre market for treatment with the help of neighbors. After being taken from Dumre to CMCM in Chitwan for further treatment, my grandson survived.'

vs. no. From February 2074 until now, 15 children have lost their lives in leopard attacks. During this period, 21 children were injured in the attack of leopards, according to Division Forest Office Tanahun .

There was more fear of leopards in Ward No. 1, 2, 3 and 4 of Bhanu Municipality of the district. After that, leopards started targeting children in Ambukhaireni, Bandipur, Beas and Shuklagandaki areas. Children between 2 and 12 years of age are killed and injured in leopard attacks. Leopards especially come to human settlements in the early morning and early evening and attack children.

According to the statistics of the Division Forest Office Tanahun, the number of leopard attacks. Since 2074, 15 children have lost their lives in Bhanu, 1 in Ambukhareni, 5 in Bandipur, 2 in Shuklagandaki and 1 in Vyas. Leopards have also killed pets. Why did the leopard come and attack the people in the house? The locals have not yet found the sheep.

After the leopard terror started to increase in the district, the municipalities of the affected areas have taken forward the awareness program . Chairman of Bandipur Rural Municipality, Surendra Thapa, said that it seems that leopard terror has decreased a bit recently.

"Even though the leopard has not attacked humans and caused damage, it is attacking dogs and goats," he said, "still not in a position to be confident." We have asked everyone to be aware. Small children are asked to be taken under the supervision of their parents when they go to school. We have told them not to leave the children alone in the evening and in the morning, and to go in groups when going to the forest.

Apart from awareness, no other work has been done from the municipal level to control leopards. Baikunth Neupane, the mayor of Beas Municipality, said that due to the presence of wild animals, he cannot control them. He said, "Awareness work is being done from the ward level." We are ready to go ahead in coordination with the Division Forest Office and other concerned agencies for leopard control.

district has 621 community forests in an area of ​​82 thousand 549 hectares. Along with this, there are also national and private forests. Most of the people are living in this forest area. Community forest has also improved the standard of living of local consumers .

During the protection and promotion of the forest area, the forest area has gradually increased. However, due to this growing forest area and the wild animals that roam here, the conflict between humans and wild animals is increasing now.

Efforts to control leopards

After leopards started attacking houses and killing children, the relevant agencies have adopted various measures to control leopards . Foot trap in the forest, camera trapping, deployment of special security forces, trapping with goats in traditional cages, construction of water ponds in the forest, clearing and cleaning of bushes around houses, awareness among people, planting of fruit trees in the forest, but the leopard terror has not been reduced yet.

District Administration Office Tanahun had instructed to kill the cannibal leopard in October 2076. According to Section 9(4) of the Local Administration Act 2028, a letter was also sent to the District Police Office, Tanahun, asking them not to kill the violent cannibalistic leopard and hand over the dead leopard to the Division Forest Office, Tanahun. However, the attack did not come under control.

Bhanu Municipality-2 80-year-old Haribhakt Dhakal of Bhanu Municipality-4 in Tanahun with a traditional wooden cage made for leopard control in Fusretar forest. Photo: Remembrance/Kantipur

As leopard terror increased, traditional wooden cages were constructed in the affected areas for prevention. 16 leopards fell into a trap set in a wooden cage. From the year 2075 until now, 18 live and 40 dead leopards have been found, according to Division Forest Office Tanahun. The live leopard was captured and safely sent elsewhere. Kashiraj Pandit, Assistant Divisional Forest Officer of Tanahun, says that due to this conflict, not only human beings but also leopards have suffered a lot.

There are currently 8 iron cages in the leopard-affected area. The Pandit said that the wooden cages built in the community forest area were in a dilapidated condition and were kept in iron cages with traps.

Water ponds and fruits in the forest for wild animals

To reduce the conflict between humans and wild animals, the Division Forest Office Tanahun. 2078 to AD Until 2080/081, 32 ponds have been constructed in different community forest areas of the district. The office has spent 30 lakh 69 thousand 294 rupees for the construction of the pond.

Among the ponds built in the community forest area, 25 percent of the ponds have twelve months of water . Among others, Tanahun Assistant Forest Officer Rajkumar Shrestha said that water falling from the sky is collected during the dry season and that water goes into the ground to recharge other water sources.

In search of water and food, wild animals, especially leopards, come to human settlements, and various works are being done to manage the water and food required by wild animals. Forest officer Shrestha said that constructing ponds in the forest is not only important for reducing the conflict between humans and wildlife, but also from an environmental point of view.

He said, "Like other wild animals, birds also come to the pond." Fruit plants grow in that place when the birds spread. When various wild animals come to the pond for water, the leopard also hides there and does not come to the human settlement in search of food. In 2077/078, about 500 saplings of various types of fruits have been planted in the community forest of Majua Okhle in Bhanu in an area of ​​two hectares. 278 saplings of various species of forest fruits have been planted in Umachok Community Forest of Mygde Rural Municipality-2 in an area of ​​3 hectares and in Siddhavatasan Community Forest area of ​​Mygde-3 in an area of ​​2.5 hectares. Sayhak Forest Officer Rajkumar Shrestha said that 22 lakh 40 thousand rupees were spent for the program.

'Elders who catch leopards'

After the leopard terror started to increase in Bhanu, 80-year-old Haribhakt Dhakal and 72-year-old Man Bahadur Rana Kassie The elders who tried to trap by building traditional wooden cages in the community forest area were also successful . They put a goat in a wooden cage and set a trap for the leopard. 5 leopards fell in the cage made by Dhakal and 3 leopards in the cage made by Rana.

Dhakal said that he made 6 cages, "As I remember, in 2023, a leopard ate a man for the first time in Bhanu-4". With the help of local elders, I made a wooden cage in February that year to catch the leopard.''Dhakal said that the leopard fell into the trap within a day of making the cage and with the help of that skill, he has now made 6 cages.

Similarly, Rana also said that he acquired the skill of making cages from his father. He said, "At that time, the father made a wooden cage to catch the tiger/leopard as the leopard was harassing him by eating domestic animals". I also learned to make cages while watching the cages made for controlling all three wild animals.'

They are now known as the old man who catches tigers in the village. A traditional wooden cage was made in the community forest area of ​​the leopard-affected ward and the trap was set. Bhanu Municipality and Division Forest Office jointly honored Dhakal and Rana with certificates and Rs. There was also a crowd of people to see the wooden cages made by Dhakal and Rana. They taught this skill to others and started controlling the leopard by making a wooden cage. Why

increased Leopard Panic ?

Similarly, Prem Thapa, president of Bhimsenthumki Community Forest Consumer Committee located in Bhanu-1, says that despite the increase in population, the forest has been destroyed, there are fewer bushes and there are more bushes in Kholakholsi near the house. "Nowadays, in the name of forest development, there is a practice of felling plants other than those used as timber. Because of this, the leopard does not find a place to hide and hides in the bushes around the house, he said, 'because there are no small plants, bushes and wetlands in the forest, we think that the leopard also came to the house.' -break The residents of the affected areas accept that the conflicts may increase even as people occupy the grazing areas of wild animals and leopards. Most of the water sources have dried up due to lack of environment friendly development. Water has been brought to the house from a small water source, he said, 'After not having water, we have also started to realize that the leopard enters the human settlement and tries to quench its hunger by attacking the weaker ones.' According to Thapa, leopard terror has also increased due to the fact that goats, cows, buffaloes, and oxen are not reared too much, keeping them in modern cages, not keeping water bottles outside the house, and settlements extending into the forest. Thapa said, 'If we can manage the grasslands, water and food in the forest, we have started to accept the coexistence of humans and wild animals in the affected areas, and now we have taken forward environmentally friendly activities.' Local Kumar Bahadur Khadka says that due to the extinction of small species of wild animals such as forest chickens, forest pigs, rabbits, dumsi etc., leopard terror has increased.

'Poaching has increased in the forest, we have to give our children to the leopard in exchange for that,' he said, 'If the concerned body managed the water and food for the leopard in the forest, our children would have been safe.' It is estimated by the Division Forest Office that leopard terror has increased in the district when there is less. Forest officer Kashiram Shrestha said, "It was found that there are more leopards in Bhanu forest than the forest's capacity". When these cheetahs could not find food in the forest, they entered the human settlement and attacked the weaker ones. . The government of Nepal has arranged to provide relief at the rate of 10 lakh rupees to the families of those killed in the leopard attack and 2 lakh rupees to the injured. According to the Division Forest Office, Rs.

In Tanahun, along with leopards, bear and monkey terror is also high . Bears have also reached the homes of villages and attacked people and destroyed cultivated crops. Because of the monkeys, some farmers have stopped farming and left their fields barren.