We’re on the same road we traversed with Magar on our way into the forest a week ago, and although the school isn’t far, it’s taking a while to get there. Though the throughway—the major route that winds through the corridor—is wide enough to accommodate two large buses side by side, it’s dusty, uneven, and strewn with potholes.
In a bid to cut down on travel times and to make for smoother, more pleasant journeys, the Nepalese government has decided to replace the road with a paved highway in 2020. It also has plans to upgrade a highway cutting through the northern part of Bardia, the main route linking the national park to the closest domestic airport and to neighboring India, from two lanes to four.
These are worrying developments for wildlife. Already, an average of 1.5 animals are killed every week in motoring accidents, says Ananath Baral, Bardia’s chief warden. In January 2019, a juvenile tiger was badly injured when he was run over by a speeding motorist; in December 2016, a tiger was killed by a bus. While it’s hard to stop infrastructure from being built, there are steps that can be taken to mitigate the impact and maintain connectivity between wildlife habitats, says Baral. These include maintaining speed limits at less than 25 miles per hour and building underpasses and overpasses that animals can use to cross the busy highways.
Another aspect we need to keep an eye on is human-wildlife conflict, says Gurung. “As the number of tigers goes up, so will the number of incidents ... but I don’t think it will be unmanageable.”
Tigers are responsible for only 10% of attacks on humans, says Malla, with wild elephants causing the most damage. Still, it’s important to prevent antipathy and anger toward wildlife as a whole, she says.
WWF’s Hemley agrees: “Human-wildlife conflict is something you have to factor in at the onset of developing conservation strategies. You can’t just deal with it at the back end of planning these things.” That’s why WWF has taken a proactive approach: assessing the conditions leading to conflict and introducing preventive measures such as solar and electric fencing, as well as predator-proof livestock pens to help keep wildlife out.
WWF has also worked with local community forest management committees to create teams that can respond rapidly when an animal attacks a person or destroys crops, homes, or belongings. Team members assess the damage, help victims file a claim for government compensation, and seek to quell any anti-animal anger. They can also offer relief funds immediately following an attack, so impacted families are not dependent on the sometimes-slow process of receiving government compensation funds.
As 2022 draws closer, experts remain cautiously optimistic. “I believe we can get to Tx2, whether by 2022 or slightly later. The key issue is securing and maintaining long-term commitments to tiger conservation,” says Hemley. While countries such as Nepal, Bhutan, China, India, and Russia are seeing important progress, others still face enormous challenges. Nonetheless, says Hemley, “I think the overall trend is going in the right direction, and if we keep up the momentum, we will get there.”
She offers this parting thought on our last night in Nepal: “Overall, we think that the Tx2 formula can be a good model for other species ... looking at habitat needs, defining the threats from the ground to global markets and how we mitigate them, and securing long-term commitments. And thinking long-term, that’s one reason why WWF is so invested in tiger conservation—because we really believe it has the potential to influence and shape recovery strategies for other species.”
For Magar and others, the reasons are more personal. As he sits in the forest close to where he grew up, resting in the shade of a sal tree, he fiddles with the batteries he has just changed for a camera trap nearby. With a shy smile he says, “If we protect the tigers, then future generations like my children’s will also be able to have them as part of their lives.”