Human-wildlife conflict is becoming a burning problem in the Terai landscape of Uttar Pradesh. Almost the entire Terai belt in Uttar Pradesh has witnessed an unprecedented surge in encounters with wild animals such as tigers, leopards and elephants. While the state forest department along with various NGOs and institutions is tirelessly working round the clock to find an amicable resolution to the concurrent problem, members of the local community are also significantly contributing to these efforts.

As an extension of WTI’s Terai Tiger Project, our team has established a community-based initiative called the Primary Response Team (PRT). This network comprises dedicated volunteers from local villages who aid in r conflict mitigation. These volunteers are trained in information sharing, identification of wild animal signs, camera trapping, first aid treatment and crowd control.  This group has been working in the Pilibhit-Dudhwa-Katarniaghat landscape for over a decade. Today, more than 80 PRT volunteers from 47 villages in the landscape have been relentlessly helping the community and the forest department in conflict mitigation and other conservation-related works.

Get to know some of our heroes from the field:

Saurabh Kumar

Saurabh Kumar, a 31-year-old resident of Dhaurhara Bujurg village in Lakhimpur district, is a daily wage worker with the forest department. He has a 12th-grade education and is married with four children. He also shares a piece of agricultural land with his father and three brothers.

A few months ago, Saurabh received information about some wild animal cubs spotted in a brick kiln at Gola tehsil of Lakhimpur district. He along with fellow watchers Shivam and Suresh rushed to the location. Upon observation, they discovered that a civet cat and her kittens had taken up shelter in the kiln, hiding from the neighbourhood children who were attempting to throw stones at them. Saurabh and his colleagues immediately intervened and safeguarded the spot till late evening to ensure the civet cats could be safely relocated.

Saurabh Kumar (R)  has been aiding the community and forest department as a PRT member |Photo by WTI

In a similar incident, 3 leopard cubs were reportedly sighted inside a newly constructed room at the agriculture college in Gola tehsil. When the team reached the spot, they found that they were actually Civet cat kittens. The mother Civet cat had brought the kittens into the vacant room during the night. The next morning, construction workers present at the site mistakenly thought the kittens were leopard cubs, likely due to a previous incident in April when a leopard had given birth to two cubs in the agricultural field nearby. After reassuring the college authorities that the animals posed no harm, the team waited until nightfall to ensure that the mother civet returned to the room and relocated her kittens.

Earlier this week, Saurabh responded to an emergency call regarding a nilgai fawn that was injured by stray dogs in Kulwant Singh ka Jhala in village Dhaurhara Bujurg of Lakhimpur district.  Geared with a first aid kit provided by WTI, Saurabh rushed to the rescue.  He provided on-site treatment following which the fawn was transferred to the local vet for further checkups. The fawn was later released back to the location where it was found.

Chetan

A resident of Buda Paimor village in Amariya tehsil of Pilibhit district, 34-year-old Chetan is another member of our PRT and a trained tracker and works as a daily wager with the forest department.

His village is situated close to the Uttarakhand border, adjacent to the Surai forest range. The area of Amariya in Pilibhit is renowned for its  “sugarcane tigers” with close to six tigers believed to have resided in the sugarcane fields for many years. Amariya is connected with the Surai range and Nandor wildlife sanctuary forests in Uttarakhand which further connects east to the Pilibhit Tiger Reserve.

Chetan (second from the left) has been monitoring tigers in sugarcane fields in this area | Photo by WTI

For over six years, Chetan has been actively monitoring the sugarcane tigers in this area. Each morning,  he embarks on his efforts to track the tigers and leopards venturing into the vast private farms and villages. Between the months of April and September, he rescued 14 snakes including Indian rock pythons, and cobras,  11 Mugger crocodiles that had strayed into homes and villages, as well as one Leopard trapped in a  snare.

Inderjeet Singh

Inderjeet Singh is a resident of Gangapur Grant located in Jamunha village of Lakhimpur district. He is the owner of a 5.5-acre sugarcane farm which is frequently visited by tigers from the Mohammadi Range. In 2020, a tigress and her three cubs were found taking up shelter on his farm. Since 2022, another tigress with two sub-adult cubs has been sighted on the farm. The presence of this tigress was confirmed when one of the workers on the farm was attacked. Inderjeet frequently comes across their pugmarks and has been monitoring their whereabouts to ensure the safety of his farmers and the tigers. Additionally, another tiger, likely male, has been spotted wandering around the farm which is situated along the Katina River.  This river is a source for tiger dispersal from the Dudhwa Tiger Reserve to the nearby reserve forest areas leading up to Sitapur, Hardoi and Shahjahanpur.

Inderjeet patrolling his sugarcane farm | Photo by WTI

In cases where a tigress kills any livestock in and around the village, Inderjeet visits the incident site to persuade the villagers not to become agitated and helps them initiate the compensation process.

Through the inspiring stories of individuals like Saurabh Kumar, Chetan, and Inderjeet Singh, we witness the relentless dedication and bravery displayed by these community heroes. Their efforts often go unnoticed but they serve as a testament to the power of collaboration and the potential for sustainable cohabitation between humans and the wildlife of the Terai Belt.