Pantheraman
Well-Known Member
"Nepal has pulled off the extraordinary feat of more than doubling its tiger population in the past 10 years, bringing them back from the brink of extinction. But it has come at a cost to local communities - an increase in tiger attacks.
"There are two feelings when you come head to head with a tiger," says Captain Ayush Jung Bahadur Rana, part of a unit tasked with protecting the big cats.
"Oh my God, what a majestic creature. And the other is, oh my God, am I dead?"
He now often sees Bengal tigers on the armed patrols he carries out across the open plains and dense bush of Bardiya, the largest and most undisturbed national park in Nepal's Terai region."
"But the return of the tigers has created life-threatening challenges for people on the border of the park.
"The community lives in terror," says Manoj Gutam, an eco-business operator and conservationist.
"The common area that tigers, prey species and humans share is so tight. There's a price the community has paid for the world to rejoice in Nepal doubling its tiger numbers."
In the past 12 months, 16 people have been killed by tigers in Nepal. In the previous five years, a combined total of 10 people were killed."
"Officials are looking at providing alternative livelihoods for those who use the national park to collect materials or graze cattle. They plan to develop skills so locals can start small businesses or work in tourism."
"Bhadai Tharu calls a meeting of his local tiger protection team.
His team is making plans to create more secure stables for livestock and to make more grassland in the community forests, adjacent to the park so the tigers will have plenty of deer to eat.
They also run classes for the next generation which will have to live with the return of the tigers. Children are taught about tiger behaviour and told not to go into the forest alone. When asked what their favourite animal is, many children would say a tiger."
Nepal: Return of the tigers brings both joy and fear
"There are two feelings when you come head to head with a tiger," says Captain Ayush Jung Bahadur Rana, part of a unit tasked with protecting the big cats.
"Oh my God, what a majestic creature. And the other is, oh my God, am I dead?"
He now often sees Bengal tigers on the armed patrols he carries out across the open plains and dense bush of Bardiya, the largest and most undisturbed national park in Nepal's Terai region."
"But the return of the tigers has created life-threatening challenges for people on the border of the park.
"The community lives in terror," says Manoj Gutam, an eco-business operator and conservationist.
"The common area that tigers, prey species and humans share is so tight. There's a price the community has paid for the world to rejoice in Nepal doubling its tiger numbers."
In the past 12 months, 16 people have been killed by tigers in Nepal. In the previous five years, a combined total of 10 people were killed."
"Officials are looking at providing alternative livelihoods for those who use the national park to collect materials or graze cattle. They plan to develop skills so locals can start small businesses or work in tourism."
"Bhadai Tharu calls a meeting of his local tiger protection team.
His team is making plans to create more secure stables for livestock and to make more grassland in the community forests, adjacent to the park so the tigers will have plenty of deer to eat.
They also run classes for the next generation which will have to live with the return of the tigers. Children are taught about tiger behaviour and told not to go into the forest alone. When asked what their favourite animal is, many children would say a tiger."
Nepal: Return of the tigers brings both joy and fear
