Human-wildlife conflict is forcing people to abandon their houses and agricultural land in Bartsham gewog under Trashigang Dzongkhag. Currently around 50 percent of the houses are empty and land fallow in the gewog.
Ap Kota, who is from Bartsham, has been spending sleepless nights guarding his maize field. Every night he sits by the fire, chanting prayers and shouting to scare off wild animals. He says there were lesser wild animals encroaching into their fields in the past but now with many people gone leaving their land fallow, wild animals frequent his field almost every night.
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Despite such vigilance, the farmers continue to lose their crops to wild animals. Ap Norbu from Mantshang village recently lost almost half of his maize to wild boars. Ap Norbu says wild animals are discouraging farmers like him from cultivating crops in the village.
According to the gewog administration, 296 out of 539 houses in Bartsham are empty. And more than 60 percent of total agricultural land in the gewog has been left fallow. And the number, according to the gewog administration is increasing every year.
