Publications by authors named "Shyam Kumar Thapa"

Article Synopsis
  • Human-wildlife conflicts in western Nepal, particularly involving elephants, leopards, and tigers, lead to human casualties and a negative perception of conservation efforts.
  • A study analyzed 76 incidents of human deaths and injuries from 2019 to 2023, finding that tigers were responsible for 75% of attacks, predominantly occurring near forest edges during the day.
  • To improve coexistence, strategies such as community patrols, habitat restoration, electric fencing, and insurance for local farmers were recommended to mitigate future conflicts.
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The 'landscape of fear' concept offers valuable insights into wildlife behaviour, yet its practical integration into habitat management for conservation remains underexplored. In this study, conducted in the subtropical monsoon grasslands of Bardia National Park, Nepal, we aimed to bridge this gap through a multi-year, landscape-scale experimental investigation in Bardia National Park, Nepal. The park has the highest density of tigers (with an estimated density of ~7 individuals per 100 km) in Nepal, allowing us to understand the effect of habitat management on predation risk and resource availability especially for three cervid species: chital (), swamp deer () and hog deer ().

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Fire is rampant throughout subtropical South and Southeast Asian grasslands. However, very little is known about the role of fire and pyric herbivory on the functioning of highly productive subtropical monsoon grasslands lying within the Cwa climatic region. We assessed the temporal effect of fire on postfire regrowth quality and associated pyric-herbivory in the subtropical monsoon grasslands of Bardia National Park, Nepal.

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Conservation of large carnivores such as leopards requires large and interconnected habitats. Despite the wide geographic range of the leopard globally, only 17% of their habitat is within protected areas. Leopards are widely distributed in Nepal, but their population status and occupancy are poorly understood.

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