The message has reached the public that wild animals should not be killed, but rather rescued and released into their natural habitat.
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The 'Tiger-Friends' program, launched to reduce the increasing human-tiger conflict in the Parsa National Park and its buffer zone settlements, is becoming effective.
According to the park administration, the program, which has been running for a year with the direct participation of the community, has played an important role in raising awareness among the local residents along with tiger conservation.
Parsa National Park, its buffer zone and border forest areas are considered important habitats for the endangered Pate tiger. According to the census conducted 4 years ago, there are 41 adult tigers in the park. The results of this year's census are being made public after two months. In recent years, as tigers have been seen near human settlements, the risk to human safety has increased and incidents of retaliation have added challenges to tiger conservation. Two years ago, only 5 tigers were killed in human settlements near the buffer zone and the forest area connected to the Division Forest Office.
Keeping this situation in mind, last year on the occasion of International Tiger Day, the then Chief Minister of Madhesh Province, Shatis Singh, had launched the ‘Tiger-Friendly Campaign’ at a program organized by the park’s office in Adhabhar.
According to Santosh Kumar Bhagat, Information and Conservation Officer of the park office in Adhabhar, the program has now been expanded to Parsa, Bara and Rautahat districts. ‘The program has been launched with the aim of making the community a partner in the conservation campaign,’ he said, ‘This has helped reduce human-tiger conflict and develop a positive attitude towards wildlife.’
Six buffer zone user committees, four in Parsa and two in Bara, have participated under the program. The concerned district forest offices are also collaborating in the campaign. Two Tiger-Friendly volunteers have been mobilized in each committee. This program, which is being run in the area under the Division Forest Office in Rautahat, has also been supported by the Terai Archlandscape Program.
Volunteers are working to spread public awareness at the local level, inform the park's rescue team immediately if a tiger or other wild animal is seen in a human settlement, warn locals not to harm wild animals, and disseminate information about conservation.
The 'Tiger Friend Program Operation Procedure Manual-2082' prepared by the park clearly defines the role, institutional structure, coordination mechanism, and monitoring system of volunteers. Bhagat says that the program aims to promote sustainable coexistence through dialogue, trust, cooperation, and local ownership-based practices rather than limiting conservation to legal control.
He said that the active participation of the community has reduced the fear of tiger sightings and has started developing a positive attitude towards wild animals. As a result, he says, the message has reached the public that wild animals should not be killed, but rescued and released into their natural habitats.
