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He was attacked by a tiger and lost his left eye and barely escaped with his life. But will you dedicate your life to tigers? What you are about to read is a movie-like story of someone who lived exactly this experience…
Bhadai Tharu was born in the Bardiya district of Nepal, near India’s western border, and grew up listening to stories about tigers.
In fact, there were not many tigers in the forests surrounding where Tharu lived. While there were more than 100,000 tigers on the Asian continent at the beginning of the twentieth century, this number decreased to 20,000 during Tharu’s childhood, that is, in the 1970s.
But that didn’t stop his parents from telling Tharu stories about tigers.
He lost his eye in a tiger attack
It was a region where tigers were the kings of the jungle, and legendary traits were attributed to these big cats.
According to Tharu, the rare occurrence of a tiger entering the village boundaries was considered a sign of the gods’ displeasure. The villagers were setting up small temples called “Madhawa” for tigers. (Tharo said this ritual continues today.)
Tharu grew up in such an environment and became an environmental activist with the idea of protecting the natural habitats of tigers.
So when he was attacked by a tiger and lost his eye in 2004, he felt punished.
“I wanted to go back to the jungle and take revenge on the tiger.”
“I was very angry with the tiger. I was angry. I even felt like going back to the forest and taking revenge on the tiger,” Tharu told CNN.
However, Tharu stated that his anger subsided over time and said: “Over time, I realized that the forest is the tiger’s home, and the only reason it attacked me was because it was afraid that I would harm its natural habitat.”
“He could have killed me but he didn’t”
On the day the Tharu was attacked, a group of 100 to 150 people were in the forest gathering wood and grass. It was Tharu’s job to oversee this group as head of his district’s forest conservation initiative.
Tharu, “People were scattered in the forest. Suddenly the tiger found itself surrounded by people. It couldn’t find a way to escape. The tiger that attacked me was afraid. It could have killed me, but it didn’t. Instead, it was afraid. It attacked and left.” He said.
Since then, Tharu has dedicated himself to protecting Nepal’s tigers and preventing conflicts between humans and wild animals.
First the forest grew, then the animals returned
The lands around Khata Tharu village were empty and treeless in the 1980s. However, in 2001, land management was transferred to local communities. Tharu stated that local people need the forest to meet their daily needs.
This area, now known as the Khata Corridor, connects the Katarniaghat Wildlife Sanctuary in Uttar Pradesh state in India and Bardiya National Park in Nepal.
In the intervening period, the forest area increased from 115 hectares to 3,800 hectares. In 2021, the World Wildlife Fund’s Award of Excellence was also awarded here. As forest land expands, wild animals, including tigers, are returning to the area, Tharu added.
The area has become home to four tigers
Bardiya National Park and Khata Pass are part of the Terai Arc landscape along the Nepal-India border. The 24,710 square kilometer area consists of six protected areas such as forests and swamps.
In 2010, Nepal set a target of increasing the number of tigers in the region from 121 to 250. At the end of the specified period, the target was significantly exceeded and the number of tigers reached 355.
Umesh Paudel, a researcher working at the Bardiya branch of the Nepal-based National Foundation for Nature Conservation (NTNC), said that the Khata Corridor has made a huge contribution to tiger conservation and has completely eliminated the problem of poaching.
“Normally, wild animals do not see such corridors as permanent habitats,” Paudel said, stressing that before the conservation efforts, it was very rare to see tigers with cameras in the area, but in the 2021 tiger census, four tigers were found. He was found to be living permanently in Khata Pass.
Tigers, which are territorial animals by nature, need an area of 150 square kilometers and change habitat frequently so that they can move comfortably. Paudel said the corridor allows tigers to move freely and develop.
The increase in tigers has also led to an increase in attacks
The growth in tiger numbers is a great achievement, but it creates a new problem in the region: conflicts between humans and wild animals are increasing.
Tiger attacks like the Tharu attack were rare events in 2004. However, as tiger numbers increase, such attacks are becoming more frequent. Paudel said there have been at least 34 fatal attacks in Banke and Bardia National Parks since 2019.
About 6,000 communities live in the corridor. Moreover, a busy highway passes through the center of the area. All of this means an increased potential for conflict.
NTNC monitors tigers using teletraps and identifies animals likely to cause problems. Paudel said that after the attack, there is a high probability that the tiger will return to the scene, so they can simply identify the animal and analyze its behavioral patterns.
“We recommend capturing these tigers in cases where we find them repeatedly killing people,” Paudel said, adding that this study was conducted in collaboration with NTNC, the Nepalese Army and the institution responsible for the national parks.
Efforts are being made to prevent tigers from entering villages
Apart from tracking and monitoring tigers, NTNC also monitors deer numbers to ensure that tigers get enough food. In this context, work is being done to ensure that parts of the park far from villages attract deer. “This way, the tigers remain within the national park and conflicts with those living in the area are reduced,” Paudel said.
Likewise, creating artificial water sources helps expand the tiger population and keep it away from settlements.
However, the increase in tiger numbers is not the only cause of conflicts. “People living in our area enter wild animal habitats, wander into the forests alone, and disturb their natural habitats. As a result of this disturbance, they are frequently attacked by tigers,” Paudel said.
It is satisfactory that the tiger population is increasing despite the attacks
Adding that it is easier to influence people’s behavior than change tigers, Paudel said that NTNC organizes social education and empowerment programs and tries to prevent attacks by building fences and shelters.
Tharu said that despite the increase in human-animal conflicts, local communities are happy with the increasing tiger numbers.
As apex predators, tigers are an important species. This means that they are indispensable to the forest ecosystem on which the surrounding communities depend for their livelihood and survival. “Tigers were once threatened, but today they are back. This is good news for us,” Tharu said.
He added that he hopes attacks can be reduced by teaching communities living in the area to take precautions. “Every being has equal rights on land,” Tharo said.
Compiled from CNN International News with the title “This conservationist lost an eye in a tiger attack – but is still fighting to protect the king of the jungle.”