Neighbors gather at the house of Rabin Khadka who was killed in an elephant attack on Wednesday.
ITAHARI: Locals of Itahari are terrorized as wild elephants are infiltrating their settlements. They stay awake all night as a herd of wild elephants approach their settlements every day when the sun goes down. After the death of 26-year-old Rabin Khadka in an elephant attack near Budhasubba Chowk in Itahari Sub-Municipality-2 on Wednesday, they have urged the local administration to find a long-term solution to the problem.
Rabin, who had returned from working abroad just last year, lost his life while attempting to chase away elephants that had entered the settlement at night. His father Madhu Khadka said Rabin had left the house to chase the elephants on that fateful evening. “I had asked him to stay home. But since members from each household had assembled to chase elephants, he joined the fellow villagers in confronting the elephants. But he didn’t return,” Madhu said.
The Khadka family, including Rabin’s mother Kamala and wife Renuka Rai, is now in mourning. Rabin, the eldest among three daughters and two sons, had returned from Saudi Arabia to get married and was preparing to seek employment in Dubai.
The locals, disturbed by the repeated incursions of the wild tuskers, have been staying awake for five consecutive nights as elephant herds approach the settlement at around 5:30 pm every day.
Roshan Adhikari, a local resident, said the issue of elephant intrusion is not new in the settlement. “We urge the federal, provincial, and local governments to find a long-term solution to the problem,” he said. “There are 26 elephants in the herd. The number seems to be rising every year.”
Hemkarna Poudel, the Mayor of Itahari Sub-metropolitan City, visited the incident site on Thursday and acknowledged the lack of a mechanism to control or chase elephants. “I will discuss the matter with the forest authorities to explore potential solutions to the problem,” Poudel said. “Although we have installed sirens and sufficient street lights, this alone is not sufficient.”
Mayor Poudel also said he has held discussions with Chief Minister Kedar Karki, the District Forest Chief, the Chief District Officer, and heads of Nepal Police and Armed Police Force to find a solution to the perennial problem.
Why do elephants enter human settlements?
Birendra Gautam, head of Koshi Provincial Office of the National Trust for Nature Conservation, said wild elephants retaliate when teased or disturbed. “Elephants in herds stay in one place for some time and return back. They enter settlements when they don’t find sufficient food in jungles,” he added. “Since they can smell where food is, they often reach human settlements for food.”
Experts say herds of elephants enter Nepal from India every year. Since elephants have a good memory, they often follow the same track and continue to visit places they like for years.
Asian elephants Asian elephants are categorized as endangered on the IUCN Red List.
