Tiger Menace Increases in Mahottari's Chure Foothills

Mahottari. Tiger menace has increased in the settlements at the foothills of Chure in Mahottari. The menace of tigers has increased in the last week in the foothills settlements of Bardibas municipality, which occupies the entire Chure region of the district.

The tiger that entered a shed last Sunday in the Wardanda settlement of Bardibas-5 Tuteshwor and killed domestic livestock has now reached the eastern foothills settlements of the municipality. The wild animal that entered the shed and killed cows, calves, goats, sheep, and pigs has been identified as a striped tiger on Friday night.

"For four consecutive days, tigers were killing goats, sheep, and pigs west of the Ratu River in Bardibas-3, on the Patu hill, but it was not confirmed which animal it was," said Virat Bisht, ward chairman of Bardibas-3. "However, on Friday night, villagers who kept watch saw a striped tiger with a cub (cub)." Ramesh Poudel Khatri, chairman of the Pateurkares Community Forest Consumer Committee, said that the tiger entered the dense forest after they lit torches and banged tin.

"Since Wednesday night, continuous killing of pigs, goats, and sheep from the sheds in our settlement," said Khatri. "We kept watch from Friday evening, and saw a striped tiger with cubs. " Although the tiger entered the forest on Friday night, the locals are terrified.

The tiger had killed a piglet weighing four to five dharnis of Krishnabahadur Magar of Patu Danda on Wednesday night and a goat weighing eight to nine dharnis and a pregnant goat of Rupamaya Khadka on Thursday night, dragging them from the shed.

Earlier, about 15 kilometers west in Bardibas-5 Wardanda, the tiger had killed a milch cow of Prembahadur Thing and a calf of Brijbahadur Thing at the beginning of the week.

Wardanda residents also said that the tiger moved east after they lit torches and made noise on Tuesday night. Om Bahadur Khatri, a resident of Patu, said that due to the increased tiger menace, people are afraid to walk in the fields and farms around the settlement. Currently, the residents of the Chure foothills are appealing to the forest officials to prevent tigers from entering the settlements.

Meanwhile, community forest consumer committees in the Chure region and forest-related offices in this area have appealed to the public not to move around in the evening, to be vigilant around settlements, and to keep domestic livestock securely closed in sheds or enclosures.