On April 30, Nawaraj Dhakal, 42, of Madi Municipality Ward No. 8 was attacked by a wild boar while collecting fodder from his farmland in Tallo Kantipur Gaun. Dhakal, who was critically injured in the attack, died soon after.

“We could not save Dhakal because of deep injuries. The male wild boar had attacked him brutally. I had never seen or heard of this kind of attack before,” said Shivaji Gayak, chairman of the Ayodhyapuri Buffer Zone Consumers Committee.

Incidents of wild boar attacks have been on the rise in the settlements abutting the buffer zone of Chitwan National Park.

“Six people were killed and 23 others injured in various incidents of human-animal conflict in the buffer zone area of the park in the current fiscal year. Among them, one individual was killed and five others were injured in separate wild boar attacks,” said Lokendra Chand, assistant conservation officer at the park. “This is the first time in three years that a wild boar killed a man in the buffer zone area. But 22 individuals have suffered injuries in separate wild boar attacks in the same time frame.”

In the last fiscal year, 13 individuals were injured in separate wild boar attacks in the buffer zone area of the national park.

Like rhinos, spotted deer and other deer species, wild boars have been destroying crops in the settlements of the buffer zone of the national park.

According to villagers, wild boars enter their fields and destroy ready-to-harvest crops. “Mainly crops like potatoes, maize, paddy and wheat are being destroyed by wild boars,” said Gayak. “After rhinos, it’s the wild boars that cause the most destruction to crops.”

Chief Conservation Officer of the park Ananath Baral said, “The destruction caused by wild boars is being reported from every part of the national park. The problem has become even perennial in Madi and Amaltari of Nawalpur area.”

According to the existing legal provisions of the country, the family of a person killed in a wildlife attack is entitled to receive Rs 1 million.

“An individual who suffers from serious injuries in wildlife attacks will get a compensation of Rs 200,000 whereas a victim with minor injuries will receive Rs 20,000. Additionally, the compensation amount in case of crop depredation by wild animals has been doubled to Rs 20,000,” said Adhikari. The victim has to file a formal request to the concerned authorities within 35 days of the incident to claim the compensation amount as per the rule.

Wild boars are not protected animals per se. The National Park and Wildlife Conservation Act only enumerates a total of 26 mammals as protected species. But it is still illegal to kill wild animals that are not on the list of protected species, as per the National Parks and Wildlife Conservation Act-1973.