Community Outreach Programmes to Lessen Human-Tiger Conflict in Bardia National Park

11 Nov 2010 Bardia National Park, Nepal, Indian Sub-continent Conflict | Mammals | People

Babu Bhattarai


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17 Feb 2009

Human-Tiger Conflict in Bardia National Park, Nepal

19 Mar 2015

Assessing Level of Illegal Hunting of Prey Species in Northern Part of Bardia National Park, Nepal: Implication for Carnivore Conservation

31 Jan 2017

Conflict and Conservation: Sharing the Costs and Benefits of Tiger (Panthera tigris tigris) Conservation in Communities Adjacent to Wildlife Reserves in Nepal

The project aims to mitigate human-tiger conflict through community outreach programmes and get support of local communities in conservation.

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Loss of habitat, poaching of tigers for illegal trade of its body parts, conflict with human being and excessive hunting of prey species are major causes of declining tiger population throughout its range. Conflict with human being is thought to a serious threat to all the large carnivores. Injury or loss of human life and livestock losses are two significant result of such conflict and consequently retaliation killing of tiger brings ecological loss in the ecosystem sometimes creating a vacuum in the trophic level through a trophic cascade.

My previous study showed that in Bardia National Park, four tigers were killed due to human-tiger conflict; and 12 human beings and 200 livestock became victim of such conflict. In the project area people have less motivation to conserve this endangered species. Compensation to losses is very minimal or negligible and awareness level to conservation of big cats is low. If simple precautions are taken losses can be minimized greatly and situation can be reversed. Therefore, this project will encourage local communities to construct predation proof livestock pens and stop grazing in the forest (tiger habitat). It will also assist in construction of such predation proof livestock stalls to the poorest of affected community.

Local people are very poor and subsistence farming is the main source of household economy. Therefore, they cannot tolerate even a small loss of property due to tigers and its prey species. This will reduce the support of local communities in efforts of tiger conservation employed by conservation agencies. Without support of local residents the goal of conservation cannot be achieved. To reverse this scenario the project will provide basic veterinary services to the affected communities so that it will minimize the livestock loss and it will help in increasing the tolerance of local communities to some extent.

From the community outreach programmes, the project expects positive and harmonious relationship between National Park Authority and local communities consequently no retaliation of big predators like tigers and leopards. In addition the human casualties by tiger attack will reduced almost to zero and livestock depredation rate will also be greatly minimized. Therefore, tiger conservation initiatives will be fruitful.

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