Human wildlife conflict in Shuklaphanta Wildlife Reserve: A case study of Beldandi VDC, Kanchanpur district, Nepal

Abstract

Many of the park areas in the developing countries are surrounded by the agricultural lands. The people living in and around such national parks have interacted with them in a multifarious ways. Human-wildlife conflict is defined as any event in which animals injure, destroy or damage human life or property including destruction of crops and are killed, injured, captured or otherwise harmed as a result in both humans and animals suffer from the interaction with each other. An increase in human population from hill migrant and gradual forest encroachment for agricultural land have made the situation worse in the lowland and the illegal extraction of forest resources make further escalation for park people conflict Everywhere in the buffer zone areas there are conflicts between human and wildlife. This conflict is not in now day's it also in past. In the conflict between human and wildlife consequences many damages in both sides as crop, livestock, physical properties, human etc damaged or killed by wildlife and wildlife also injured or killed by human beings. Deforestation may also cause of conflict between human and wildlife. So here thesis entitled Human-Wildlife Conflict in Shuklaphanta Wildlife Reserve: A Case Study of Beldandi VDC, Kanchanpur District, Nepal tries to access various aspects of human- wildlife conflict in the buffer zone area Beldandi of Shuklaphanta Wildlife Reserve. The main objective of this study were to identification of conflicted wildlife's in the study area, major causes of conflict, value of damages and measures of minimizing conflicts adopted by the local people. For this study the researcher applied descriptive and exploratory research methodology. The Wards of Beldandi VDC were selected which are nearer to the Shuklaphanta Wildlife Reserve. Questionnaire surveys and interviews were conducted for primary data were collected during January September 2015 to March 2016. Data were analyzed using Ms Excel 2007. Ward of Beldandi VDC 7, 8 and 9 respectively were the areas with higher wildlife damage. Crop raiding by wildlife was higher as compared to physical property damage, livestock killing, and human injuries. Frequency of Wild Boar, Chital and Nilgai visiting to cropland was significantly high. Altogether there were five pest species including Wild boar, Chital, elephant, monkey, nilgai and three livestock predators including tiger leopard and jackal. Among the pest species wild boar and chital were the most frequent crop raiders in each ward of the VDC. Food deficiency, lack of fencing, increase in wildlife populations and deforestation were the major causes of conflict. The survey of 60 households showed that there was a total economic loss of Rs.6, 76,240 per annum. Paddy and Wheat damage accounted the highest among the crops. Crop loss within sites was not significantly different. Measures adopted by the local people are focusing light, night watching, making cloths statue at field and by producing different sounds to mitigate the human wildlife conflict. Human-wildlife conflict still exists in buffer zone areas.