KATHMANDU — Yes, you read the headline right: On Aug. 22, in a rare incident, a tethered domestic buffalo (Bubalus bubalis) killed an endangered Bengal tiger (Panthera tigris tigris) on the fringe of Nepal’s Chitwan National Park. The event, which occurred in Pratappur village within the Manahari Rural Municipality, quickly made headlines across Nepal, with many users on social media marveling at the unusual role reversal. However, beyond the initial reactions to the incident lies a broader and more crucial issue: ongoing human-wildlife conflict in Nepal and balancing conservation with securing people’s right to livelihoods. The tiger, according to Dil Bahadur Purja Pun, chief conservation officer at Chitwan National Park, was likely severely injured and struggling to find prey in the wild. “We believe that the tiger attacked the buffalo, which was tethered to a shed, because it perceived the animal as easy prey,” Pun said. However, the buffalo fought back, goring the tiger to death. Bal Bahadur Rai, the 56-year-old owner of the buffalo, said that while he was relieved his buffalo survived the attack, the animal was severely injured. “The buffalo’s neck, where the tiger attacked, is swollen, and it is unable to stand,” Rai told the Nepali news outlet Setopati. Buffalos returning home after grazing in the edges of the Kumroj Community Forest. Image by Jason Houston / USAID via Flickr (Public domain). Despite the severity of the buffalo’s injuries, park officials who arrived at the scene to take away the tiger’s carcass didn’t provide any treatment…This article was originally published on Mongabay
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