Wangdi has already had two encounters with bears; on both occasions, he escaped without being hurt. But the domesticated animals are not as lucky.

Dawa Sherpa of Lungthung, Lelep-6 recalled how a leopard had killed five of his cows. “As the forests have grown over the years due to annual tree plantation campaigns, the number of leopards has also increased,” Dawa said, adding that locals had been encountering wild animals in human settlements more often in the recent years.

Notwithstanding the dangers, local people have been working actively towards the conservation of forests and wildlife. “It is our responsibility to conserve wildlife and their habitat,” said Wangdi.

The villagers have banned weapons like axes and khukuris inside the conserved forest areas. The forest users’ committee has separated the areas where the villagers can forage fodders for animals and collect firewood.

Under the Kanchanjungha Conservation Area, there are 26 community forests in Tapethok, Olangchung Gola, Lelep and Yamphuddin. There are also snow leopard conservation sub-committees in Ghunsa, Yamphuddin and Olangchung Gola, and a Red Panda conservation committee in Gyabla. Thanks to the coordination between the committees in conservation efforts, the wildlife as well as forest areas have registered an impressive growth in the past couple of years.

The only complaint of the locals is poor management of insurance and compensation provision. “Although we have managed to conserve the forests, the issue has become a major hassle for us,’ said Sujit Shrestha, the project manager, adding that they had been trying to seek a solution by increasing awareness among the locals to mitigate the damage caused by wildlife.

Statistics show that at least 20 domesticated animals are killed by snow leopards annually. On a positive note, it is estimated that the number of Red Pandas have reached 300 over the years.