Wild elephant menace in eastern Nepal has risen in recent times. Six persons have died after being attacked by the elephants from the Koshi Tappu Wildlife Reserve in the running fiscal year, according to the reserve officials.

Chief conservation officer Shyam Kumar Sah said the number of elephant-caused human deaths in the first seven months of the current fiscal year, from mid-July 2017 onwards, accounts for nearly 50 percent of the fatalities recorded since 2008. 

Manju Devi Sah, 35, and Durgi Devi Mukhiya, 45, of Kanchanarup Municipality-5, Saptari, became the latest casualties on Tuesday—the first ever inside the reserve’s territory. 

“The two women were killed 2km inside the western post of the reserve. They had entered the forest to collect firewood,”said Shyam Kumar.  Between 2008 and the first half of 2017, the reserve recorded nine cases of human deaths in elephant attacks. 

Six deaths in the past seven months, from July 2017 till February 2018, is a clear indicator that the incidents of human-elephant conflict have gone up significantly. The reserve officials attribute this to the increased human activities near the protected area.  

“We have been discouraging locals from venturing inside the reserve to collect firewood and fodder, but our advice has gone unheeded,” said Shyam Kumar.  The reserve is spread across 176 sq km covering the districts of Sunsari, Saptari and Udayapur. The cases of human-elephant conflict are high in Saptari. 

Wild tuskers have been wreaking destruction in Odraha, Portaha, Bhardaha, Bairawa, Kankalini Hanumannagar, Fattepur, Rupnagar, Dharampur, Jagatpur and Mahuli villages of Saptari for years now.

Fences built at different places to stop elephants from entering human settlements has not made much of a difference. The reserve officials say most elephants stray inside human settlements in search of food. 

“With the rise in human population, we have settlements expanding everywhere. Forest and vegetation covers are rapidly shrinking, causing elephants and other wildlife to enter human settlements in search of food,” said Shyam Kumar.