Editorial: Human-Wildlife Clash

Mar 25, 2021 | Himalayan Times
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Nepal's conservation efforts have been considered a huge success, allowing endangered animals to thrive in the wild. This has been possible largely due to political commitment, law enforcement agencies' crackdown on poaching and illegal trade in wildlife and body parts, and increased presence of the Nepali Army in the protected areas. Thousands of wildlife, including the Royal Bengal tiger and the one-horned rhinoceros, once roamed the dense jungles of Nepal's Tarai plains, but it took no time for their numbers to dwindle, what with the excessive huntings carried out by members of the Royal family and their foreign guests. This led to the establishment of Nepal's first national park in Chitwan in the 1970s to protect, namely, the tiger and the rhino. Today Nepal boasts of 12 national parks, one wildlife reserve, six conservation areas, one hunting reserve and 10 Ramsar sites to protect different endangered species of flora and fauna. Although Nepal's conservation efforts have borne fruit, the increasing number of human-wildlife conflicts, often involving human casualties, in recent years poses a major challenge. In just one month, from mid-February to mid-March this year, three people were killed in wildlife attacks near the Chitwan and Bardiya National Parks and buffer zones.