Although locals continue to suffer losses from wild animals, including leopards, the Division Forest Office, Khotang, does not have any data.
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Local farmers in Khotang are suffering from the terror of leopards and monkeys. These wild animals have been damaging not only farmers' crops but also their domesticated livestock.
According to Kumar Budhathoki, a local leader of Halesi Tuwachung Municipality-11 Rajapani, leopards have been causing damage to a large number of livestock including bulls, cows, buffaloes, goats and sheep. According to him, since last summer, leopards have killed a bull and 8 goats belonging to Purna Bahadur Khatri, 1 cow and 5 goats belonging to Hemraj Karki, a cow and 3 goats belonging to Manakala Majhi, and a padi and 4 goats belonging to Kul Bahadur Magar. Similarly, 42 goats and sheep of Tulsa Budhathoki, 2 goats and 1 goat of Roshan Khatri, 8 goats and sheep of Punya Regmi, 3 goats of Devraj Budhathoki, 4 goats of Sabitra Khatri, 3 goats of Bhuwan Magar, 2 goats of Sita Majhi, 2 goats of Ramesh Majhi, 5 goats of Dipendra Rai, 2 goats of Tilak Bahadur Rai, 3 goats of Parshuram Rai, 1 goat and 1 goat of Tankanath Regmi, 2 goats of Bandip Budhathoki and many other households have been affected.
Although locals continue to suffer losses from wild animals including leopards, the Division Forest Office Khotang does not have any data. "We have heard about the damage, but very few people have come forward to apply for official information or compensation," said Divisional Forest Officer Udim Prasad Rai. "We will not know until the application is received." According to him, only one person has requested a recommendation for insurance. Tulsa Budhathoki of Halesi Tuwachung-11 submitted a request for the loss of five Boer goats, and Sagarmatha Lumbini Insurance Company was recommended for the payment of the insurance amount, she said.
Similarly, Prakash Bhujel of Diktel Rupakot Majhuwagadhi Municipality-6 Nerpa sought compensation after claiming that monkeys had destroyed his corn crop, Rai said. Bhakta Kumari Rai of Solma, the same municipality-2, has also submitted a request claiming that monkeys had damaged his corn crop. Officer Rai said that an investigation is currently underway to confirm the facts related to Bhakta Kumari's crop damage.
According to Rai, if there is damage to the crop, the recommendation of the police and people's representatives, including the Agricultural Knowledge Center, is required, while in case of damage to livestock and birds, the recommendation process should be taken forward through the Animal Services Office.
However, due to the cumbersome process, farmers do not go to claim compensation. 'Farmers cannot complete so many paperwork processes, after receiving news of the damage, the employees of the concerned office should come to the field,' said Budhathoki. 'The concerned office and the local government also need to pay attention to this.'
