Katerniaghat, 30^th September, 2024: Wildlife Trust of India, in collaboration with the Uttar Pradesh Forest Department, conducted a training program on Human-Wildlife Conflict Mitigation for the Primary Response Team (PRT) members in the Terai landscape of Uttar Pradesh. The training was attended by a total of 55 PRT trainees, including 33 members from Katarniaghat, 15 from Lakhimpur Kheri and seven from Pilibhit.

Dr. Dibyadeep Chatterjee, Head of WTI’s Terai Tiger Project, said “PRT members are locals who contribute voluntarily towards monitoring of tigers and leopards around villages. They report the presence of tigers/leopards to WTI’s Rapid Response Team (RRT) and Forest Department and help in the peaceful and scientific resolution of conflict situations through community sensitisation and crowd management, in close coordination with the forest department.”

Orientation workshop for village volunteers (PRT members) in Katarniaghat | Photograph by Abhishek Ghoshal/WTI

Dr. Abhishek Ghoshal, Head of Human-Wildlife Conflict Mitigation Division, WTI, said “As part of the workshop, the village volunteers were oriented on the basic and scientific aspects of human-wildlife conflict, the ecology and behaviour of animals involved in conflict, stakeholder coordination and crowd management and related practical exercises. These aspects help our PRTs to gain scientific knowledge on animals, their behaviour and respond to conflict situations in a scientific manner.”

WTI’s PRT network was established in 2012, and they continue to act as the first responders to conflict situations arising due to tigers or leopards crossing into villages or agriculture fields from nearby forests. Dr. Ghoshal emphasized that in a landscape like Terai, dominated by large tracts of agriculture fields, especially sugarcane, strengthening coordination between the PRTs, front line staff of Uttar Pradesh Forest Department including Rapid Response Teams and Bagh Mitra is crucial. Coordinated and timely on-ground response to human-wildlife conflict situations by skilled personnel can substantially foster mutual trust and better relationship between local people and conservation agencies across Uttar Pradesh’s Terai landscape, thereby ensuring safety of local people and conservation of threatened big cats.

The Terai Tiger Project was launched in 2009, by formalising a participatory model of human-wildlife conflict mitigation. The project is supported by the US Fish and Wildlife Services (USFW) and Chester Zoo.