Bardiya, April 21 -- In a pioneering attempt to mitigate rising human-wildlife conflict, conservation authorities in Bardia have begun field-testing a synthetic chemical designed to repel leopards and tigers from human settlements. The trial, currently focused within the Khata Bio-corridor, utilises a lab-developed scent that mimics the smell of tiger urine.

Tigers are known to be fiercely territorial, marking their boundaries with urine to signal to other predators that a specific area is occupied. Conservationists hope that by deploying this synthetic scent in the forest edges, leopards and tigers will perceive the area as another tiger's territory and avoid entering.

The initiative comes amid growing fear among local residents, who c...