BAHUNDANGI, JHAPA DISTRICT, NEPAL -- Kopila Dahal, 48, lives in a small, grass thatched house in an eastern district that borders the Indian state of West Bengal.
This afternoon, the wrinkled curves in her face hide her fear of the night. Each day, when evening falls in her village, some 600 miles from Kathmandu, the apprehension is visible. After dinner every night Dahal packs up her four children and goes to a relative’s house to spend the night. "I cannot sleep here peaceably," she says as she stacks sacks of recently harvested paddy rice on her veranda.
Dahal and all of the villagers of Bahundangi village are busy harvesting paddy rice this time of year. But the bananas, coconuts, betel nuts and pineapples have grown in abundance. Unfortunately, abundant crops mean sleepless nights as wild elephants routinely attack this village in search of food.
“The elephants may come at any time and attack us. We have to protect our lives,” Dahal says.
For years, herds of wild elephants from bordering Indian jungles and reserves have romped through Bahundangi and destroyed houses, belongings and crops here. The wild tuskers have attacked villagers too. “Indian elephants enter the village and tear our houses apart. Peace is hard to find here,” says Durga Niraula, a panicked resident.
But pachyderms roaming into the village after dark and destroying crops and homes is nothing new here. Humans and elephants have had a tenuous relationship in this region for many years.
Tears roll from Dahal’s eyes as she remembers the night of April 24, 2002. That day, Dahal says, her husband Taranath Dahal worked his fingers to the bones in their paddy fields. They ate dinner just before 8 p.m. and then went to bed. That night, a herd of wild elephants descended on their village. “When my husband went to chase away the rampaging pachyderm, the tuskers trampled him to death in front of my eyes,” she says. “The elephant threw him away with its trunk. He died on the spot.”
Last year, Dhan Bahadur Thapa, 84, endured a similar ordeal. His son Shambhu, 21, married Durga Thapa, 16, of Darjeeling of India. When Shambhu brought his new bride home to the village, the family was preparing to formally welcome the new couple. But that night, elephants converged on the village and attacked the home of the newly married couple. Durga, the bride, died instantly. Shambhu succumbed to his injuries after a few days later. “Before we go to bed, we fear whether or not we will be able see the sunrise the next day,” Thapa says, remembering his son and young daughter-in-law.
In all, 26 people have been killed by elephants in Bahundangi, says Kuldip Giri, secretary of the Bahundangi Village Development Committee. This year alone, Giri says 20 houses have been destroyed and 1.2 million rupees worth of crops and property were damaged by elephants. “Not a single household has been spared from the damage incurred by the elephants,” Giri says of the physical and psychological damage endured by the villagers.
In Bahundangi, a village that is now synonymous with elephant attacks, villagers report tens of thousands of rupees worth of crop and property damages each year. Some villagers have resorted to killing elephants, despite the steep fine if caught, because frustration mounts as the government of Nepal is yet to provide any compensation to residents who have suffered family deaths or property damage as a result of the wild elephants. Earlier this year, Indian and Nepali officials met to discuss the problem. Both parties agreed to “monitor the elephant’s movements” but little action has resulted from the meetings and the attacks continue.
According to the Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation, DNPWC, dozens of people die and sustain injuries in elephant attacks in several districts in Nepal every year. Wild elephants are also notorious for destroying houses and crops.
According to the Biodiversity Conservation Society of Nepal, local families stand to lose approximately 30,000 rupees each year due to wild elephants destroying property and crops. A new report from the DNPWC indicates that some 20,000 people were greatly affected by wild elephants in the Dang, Banke and Bardiya districts, while 50,000 people – the entire population – of the Bahundangi village have been victimized by what is known as wild elephant terror.
Every night, the villagers of Bahundangi beat drums, light fires, patrol the borders, shout, stomp and sing to chase away the wild elephants. They recently constructed a five-mile long electric fence along the Mechi River, a frequent elephant crossing point, to prevent elephants from entering their village. “Despite our efforts, it is quite difficult to protect life and property,” says social worker and local businessman Tika Bhattarai.
Human-elephant relations are strained in Bahundangi. This year, villagers have killed 8 tuskers so far. Bhattarai says four of the elephants were killed using electric shock from the fence and the other four were gunned down by residents.
The National Parks and Wildlife Conservation Act of 1993, says anyone who kills an elephant has to pay fine of as much as 100,000 rupees, $1450 USD, or serve up to 15 years in prison. But here, villagers say they are resorting to killing elephants, and risking the fines, because they are not being compensated for the damages cause by the elephants. Nepali residents are legally entitled to compensation based on a legal provision that states when wild animals enter human settlements the government is to provide financial retribution for damages.
VDC secretary Giri says to date no one in Bahundangi has received government compensation for their losses that resulted from an elephant attack. “We have sent the reports of the damage to the District Forest Office but compensation has not [been] received yet,” Giri says.
As wild elephant terror continues, Subas Niraula, a local leader, says frustration is mounting. “The government [of Nepal] neither provides compensation nor takes any initiatives to control the elephants,” Niraula says.
DNPWC official Ranger Ritesh Basnet says there have been some talks about how to contain the wild elephants and prevent them from crossing the border into Nepal, but no action has resulted. On July 8, Nepali and Indian authorities met to discuss the problem of elephant terror as well as how to preserve the endangered animal. Basnet says both countries agreed to monitor the elephants’ movements.
Despite the government pledge to monitor the elephants, the animals are not likely to stop crossing the border, the Mechi River, as a rich and supple food source exists in Nepal.
In all, the DNPWC reports that there are 145 wild elephants in Nepal, while India is home to 30,770. Some 150 elephants live in the Mahananda Wildlife Sanctuary in Siliguri, India, which sits near the Nepali border town of Bahundangi. Elephants will likely continue to cross into Nepal via the Mechi River in search of food, Giri says.
But Sudhir Koirala, Jhapa District forest officer, says the authorities have not yet found the root cause of the problem. “India itself should identify the main cause to sort out the problem,” he says. Koirala says India has been monitoring the elephants’ activities by tying radio collars around the necks of female elephants. But he says that is not enough. “The Indian authorities do not control the elephants so they attack and kill the locals,” he says.
While the government role in wild elephant terror has many frustrated, the reality of life in Bahundangi remains difficult. Many locals say they want to sell their land and property and migrate to safer places. But police constable Surendra Bhattarai says that is difficult, since nobody wants to buy land and property here.
In addition to difficult land transactions, many local young men remain bachelors here as they say it is hard to “get girls for marriage” since Bahundangi has a reputation linked to wild elephant terror. Constable Bhattarai says his brother hasn’t married yet as he doesn’t get marriage offers because the village is prone to elephant attacks. “Upon hearing the name Bahundangi, parents refuse to give their daughters’ hands for marriage fearing that their daughters can be attacked by elephants,” he says.