In the Far West, a technical team of the National Trust for Nature Conservation has rescued 28 leopards trapped in various places over a decade. The team reached Kailali and Kanchanpur in the Tarai and the hilly districts to rescue them. In addition, some escaped from the traps and some died before the rescue team arrived.

This data clearly shows that human-wildlife conflict is increasing day by day. Whether in the Tarai or the hilly districts, incidents such as wild animals damaging crops and attacking humans have increased the conflict.
According to a study conducted by the Shuklaphanta Conservation Program of the National Trust for Nature Conservation in the hilly areas of the Far West, leopards have also been seen roaming alongside human settlements.

Be it the lower Swarad area of ​​Baitadi or the Chaulani Corridor of Darchula, the Api Base Camp, and most of the Mahabharata Range of Doti, leopards have been seen roaming near human settlements. ‘For this, activities should be carried out to maintain human-wildlife coexistence,’ said program chief Laxmi Raj Joshi. ‘Human-wildlife conflict can be reduced only by providing information about the behavior of wild animals, connecting locals to livelihoods, and raising public awareness about conflict reduction.’

In the last decade, 3,300 incidents of human-wildlife conflict have reached the forest and park administration across the state. Most of these incidents are related to leopards. Then there are monkeys, wild boars, and elephants. Leopards have started moving towards settlements due to the lack of food species in the forest. Some such incidents have not reached the forest and park administration. ‘Now it is time for us to change our behavior,’ said Joshi, ‘we must develop coexistence between humans and wildlife.’ According to him, for this, we must also know the behavior of wildlife and change our habits. The

fund had reached various areas of Darchula, Baitadi and Dadeldhura as well as Doti, Achham, Bajhang and Bajura and studied the condition of wildlife, habitat, and relationship between humans and wildlife. The condition of wildlife was studied by installing automatic cameras in various areas. In addition, an occupancy survey was also conducted. During an occupancy survey, technicians study the condition of wildlife on foot. In this, the footprints of wildlife, other signs, and food species and habitat are studied.

The study was conducted by identifying various areas where wildlife roams more and installing cameras in the said area. The cameras were kept at one location for at least 15 days. The study covered most of Dadeldhura, while only partial areas of other districts were covered.