Taplejung, Sept. 8 -- For years, Geeta Prasad Puri of ward 3 in Phungling Municipality tried every possible way to protect his crops in his ancestral village. He grew seasonal and off-season vegetables, built a makeshift shed on his farmland to guard against wild animals, and even experimented with alternative crops. But nothing worked. Finally, defeated by the relentless crop raids by monkeys and Himalayan black bears, he is mulling leaving the ancestral village for good.

"Like my neighbours, I am thinking of moving to Tarai or someplace else," said Puri with conspicuous frustration. "I am compelled to leave my ancestral village due to the terror of wild animals," he lamented.

Chaitanya Prasad Ghimire, a resident of ward 8 in Bhedabari...