While Nepal celebrates tripling its wild tiger population, rural women in forest-edge communities face escalating danger. A demographic shift driven by large-scale migration of men abroad has in part forced women to take on nearly all agricultural and household responsibilities. Described as the “feminization of agriculture,” the shift has pushed women into high-risk forest edges for daily subsistence work, such as collecting firewood and fodder, reports contributor Tulsi Rauniyar for Mongabay.
Most fatal wildlife encounters occur during routine activities. Binita Pariyar, a 17-year-old from a marginalized Dalit family, was killed by a tiger in December 2025 while cutting grass in the forest for her livestock. Following her death, five more people were killed in forests around Bardiya National Park within four weeks.
Recent research indicates that nearly one-third of fatal attacks happen while herding cattle, and another third occur during grass cutting. Forest department records also show the majority of those attacked while cutting grass from 2021-2025 have been women. The forests they go to are specifically designated for the collection of fodder, firewood and grazing materials.
Data from 2024 show that 84% of recorded attacks in Bardiya district occurred within 1 kilometer (0.6 miles) of forest boundaries. Many recent deaths have taken place in and around the Khata Corridor, a stretch of forest connecting Bardiya National Park with Katarniaghat Wildlife Sanctuary across the Indian border.
“Wildlife movement in the corridor often peaks in the early morning and at dusk, along forest edges, trails and water sources,” said Rama Mishra, a conservationist and co-founder of Wild Care Nepal. “These are the same times and places when people, especially women, enter forests to cut grass or collect firewood.”
Nepal’s tiger population has reached an estimated 355 individuals, more than doubling since 2009. Hemanta Acharya, leader of a community-based anti-poaching unit in Bardiya, said Nepal’s conservation success is often measured in numbers. “Tigers are counted, habitats mapped, poaching incidents tracked and reduced. The metrics are clean, upward-moving, and legible to global audiences. What is harder to measure, and therefore easier to overlook, are the human costs that accompany this recovery,” Acharya said.
Bardiya remains one of Nepal’s most dangerous landscapes, recording 53 deaths from wildlife in the last five years.
Despite bearing the brunt of the risk, women remain largely absent from policy-making institutions, making up less than 15% of the national park workforce.
The escalating crisis became a defining issue during the March 2026 parliamentary elections. Voters in Bardiya urged candidates to prioritize solutions, leading some politicians to promise the immediate removal or killing of “problem animals.” Experts warn long-term mitigation requires compensation reform, safer fodder access, and community-based early-warning systems rather than reactive measures.
Read the full story by Tulsi Rauniyar here.
Banner image: Women look after their cattle on the fringes of Bardiya National Park. Image by Tulsi Rauniyar for Mongabay.
This story first appeared on Mongabay
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