New barriers built along an irrigation canal have reduced elephant and other wildlife incursions into settlements, but communities remain exposed where electric fencing is poorly maintained.

Around 20 rhinos are believed to have crossed the border over the past two years.

Visitor numbers fall slightly in the last fiscal year as officials cite domestic protests and the war in West Asia, although the park remains open for year-round jeep safaris.

Locals warn of possible inundation as halted flood-control works leave communities exposed during the monsoon.

Farmers are searching across borders and cooperative depots for scarce chemical fertiliser, with some forced to transplant without it and others facing difficulties bringing supplies from India.

Grain markets across the Tarai are disappearing as direct farm buying and declining production weaken farmers' bargaining power.

Deaths from leopard, tiger and elephant attacks have nearly doubled from last year, with officials linking the rise in leopard encounters to growing tiger populations in protected forests.

Rising cases of diarrhoea, fever and dehydration strain emergency services as patients return disappointed after finding OPD services closed during public holidays.

Bardiya District Hospital is out of stock of more than half of the 98 free medicines provided by the government, forcing patients to pay for medicines themselves.

From highway towns to market centres, settlements built on public and forest land across Nepal face growing uncertainty as authorities intensify anti-encroachment campaigns.

They say the involvement of the national defence force in the process raises questions over whether the country is being run by the civilian government or the military.

Blaze, now in its second week, intensifies in northern and eastern sections, choking nearby settlements with smoke.

Experts say even trained elephants retain unpredictable wild instincts. Seven handlers killed in 25 years in Nepal.

Tension erupts in Gulariya as protest against drug trade leads to road blockade; police fire in air and use tear gas.

Collective anxiety shapes daily life across eight local units in Bardiya as eight people have been killed in less than a year.