PATNA, April 7 -- The Wildlife Trust of India (WTI) is implementing a pilot project on reducing human-large carnivore interactions and promoting coexistence in three villages around Valmiki Tiger Reserve (VTR) in Bihar, with support from the Darwin Initiative and Chester Zoo. The initiative is significant as human-tiger conflicts are common in the VTR. Even last year there were instances of people falling prey to tiger attacks. One incident happened in Bankatwa Matiyariya village in the Govardhana forest range in October 2025. This happened barely four days after another person was killed in tiger attack near Khekharia village in the Manguraha forest range. Similar incidents of tiger attacks were also reported in August and September. In Bagaha, a forest employee was also badly hurt by tiger and the video went viral. The forest team was tracking the tiger on reports that a farmer was killed. The tiger population in VTR dropped to an alarming level owing to various factors, including commercial forestry until 1994, but due to consistent efforts it has shown increase to reach 54, as per the latest reports (2023-2025). It was just eight in 2010. However, it has also led to reports of conflict due to the close proximity of agricultural land to forests. Residents often report wildlife-induced issues, primarily leopard and tiger-led livestock predation. Recognising the importance of media narratives based on an analysis of over 1,200 media reports from Bihar over three years, the WTI project aims to strengthen the capacity of grassroots journalists and communication practitioners to report on conflict with accuracy, empathy, and context. "To support this, WTI has developed a training toolkit for grassroots communicators, providing knowledge resources, credible information sources, and exposure to contemporary discourse on human-large carnivore conflict across India. It cautions against the misuse of emotionally charged terms (e.g., "man-eater," "rogue"), as well as the spread of unverified or exaggerated information, particularly on social media," said project lead Dr Samir Kumar Sinha, Director, WTI. Sinha said that human-large carnivore conflict has emerged as a significant challenge for communities living in and around wildlife habitat, and the toolkit clarifies key concepts such as conflict, cohabitation, and coexistence. "It is a global issue and poses a major threat to large carnivore populations. Community perceptions, tolerance, and practices are key drivers of such conflict, and these behavioural attributes are often influenced by external factors, including media reporting. Responsible behaviour can promote informed public discourse and reduce conflict while supporting conservation outcomes," he added. He said the role of media in shaping narratives around human-large carnivore coexistence is widely recognized in national and international policy frameworks, including the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) guidelines for cooperation between the forest and media sectors in India, and the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Species Survival Commission guidelines on human-wildlife conflict and coexistence. "Given that most human-wildlife interactions occur in remote areas, grassroots journalists often serve as the first line of communication. Their reporting shapes narratives that extend to national and global audiences. Sensational reporting and misleading headlines can fuel fear and undermine conservation efforts," he added. He said the toolkit aligns with the National Human-Wildlife Conflict Mitigation Strategy (2021-2026), emphasising prevention, impact reduction, and community engagement to underline the importance of ethical storytelling, collaboration, and the use of credible data....