The wild tuskers in the Jalthal forest of the southern belt in Jhapa district has terrorised the locals’ life in the area. Wild elephants in Nepal are often migratory visitors from Bengal. Most of the wild populations are found in small heavily fragmented groups with little chance of being viable in the long term. However one glimmer of light is within the boundaries of the Royal Bardia National Park, where a significant population increase has been recorded rising from 25 elephants in the early 90’s to over 50 individuals a decade later. A herd of eight wild elephants has entered the human settlements and destroyed the houses and food grains, said Chairman of Hariyali Youth Family for Human Elephant Conflict Management Dinesh Das. The locals, most of them squatters and landless, in Rajgadh, Maheshpur, Prithvinagar, Pathamari and other VDCs are at the receiving end due to elephant terror.
