Cases / Killings and repression of defenders · Nepal · 2006–2020
WWF Nepal Chitwan ranger death (Shikharam Chaudhary)
Nature's voice · report
No measurement of the harm done to me here is on record.
Did nature suffer? Not measured.
A farmer died in the park jail at Chitwan National Park, Nepal, in 2006. Three park officials were charged with murder; the government withdrew the case in 2007.
3 charged; case withdrawn March 2007Park officials charged with murder
Per BuzzFeed News, 4 March 2019.
Per BuzzFeed News, 4 March 2019.
Status As of November 2020 (latest dated item): the murder case was withdrawn in March 2007; no conviction found.
What?
A farmer died in the park jail at Chitwan; three park officials were charged with murder and the case was withdrawn. BuzzFeed News
Where?
Chitwan National Park, Nepal. BuzzFeed News
When?
June 2006; charges withdrawn March 2007; BuzzFeed News report of 4 March 2019. BuzzFeed News
Who?
Gained
- Charged park officials — The government withdrew the murder case in March 2007. BuzzFeed News
- WWF — Raised more than €767m in donations in 2017 and spent about $3m in the Chitwan area in 2009–10 (global figures).
Lost
- Shikharam Chaudhary — Died after being held in the park jail. BuzzFeed News
Harmed
- Shikharam Chaudhary — The autopsy found 7 broken ribs and "blue marks and bruises". BuzzFeed News
Why?
Rangers suspected Chaudhary of helping his son hide a rhino horn. BuzzFeed News
How?
He was held in the park jail and died about nine days later; the autopsy found 7 broken ribs. BuzzFeed News
6 of 6 questions answered from the record
What happened
The record, in order.
In June 2006, rangers at Chitwan National Park in Nepal held the farmer Shikharam Chaudhary in the park jail. They suspected he had helped his son hide a rhino horn. He died about nine days later. One secondary account says he was taken to hospital after a week and died two days later.
An autopsy found 7 broken ribs and "blue marks and bruises". Three park officials, including the chief warden, were charged with murder.
According to BuzzFeed News, WWF Nepal lobbied for the charges to be dropped. The government withdrew the case in March 2007, and WWF called this a victory. One of the charged rangers, Ritesh Basnet, was later hired by WWF Nepal. Another charged ranger received a WWF anti-poaching award; his memoir describes waterboarding.
BuzzFeed News also reported that WWF ran informant networks. Its March 2019 investigation covered rangers supported by WWF in several countries.
In November 2020 a panel chaired by Navi Pillay, appointed by WWF, reported on the organisation's handling of human-rights complaints.
- 2006June: Shikharam Chaudhary held in the park jail at Chitwan; dies about nine days later; autopsy finds 7 broken ribs; three park officials charged with murder
- 2007March: government withdraws the case; WWF calls this a victory (per BuzzFeed News)
- 2014A charged ranger receives a WWF anti-poaching award (as reported in the BuzzFeed News material)
- 20194 March: BuzzFeed News publishes "WWF's Secret War"
- 2020July: a Chepang youth dies after being beaten; WWF suspends funding for Chitwan ranger training and field equipment (per the Pillay panel report); 24 November: Pillay panel reports
What was said
Claims, in the words of those who made them.
“blue marks and bruises”
Where accounts differ
Each party's account, side by side, with its source. The record does not settle these points; it shows them.
Why were the murder charges dropped?
Press and investigations
BuzzFeed News
WWF Nepal lobbied for the charges to be dropped; the government withdrew the case in March 2007 and WWF called this a victory.
BuzzFeed NewsCompany or project
WWF Nepal (as stated in the Pillay panel report)
Was not aware of most alleged abuses from 2006 to 2016 and treated them as a government matter.
How long did Chaudhary spend in custody before he died?
Press and investigations
BuzzFeed News
He died about nine days after being held in the park jail.
BuzzFeed NewsPress and investigations
A secondary account
He was taken to hospital after a week and died two days later.
REDD-MonitorHow it looked
What was shown, beside what was recorded.
Shown
- WWF called the withdrawal of the murder case a victory.WWF, as reported by BuzzFeed News · BuzzFeed News
- A charged ranger received a WWF anti-poaching award.WWF, as reported by BuzzFeed News · BuzzFeed News
Recorded
- The autopsy found 7 broken ribs and "blue marks and bruises".
- Three park officials, including the chief warden, were charged with murder.
- The government withdrew the case in March 2007.
- Charged ranger Ritesh Basnet was later hired by WWF Nepal.
Who gained
Money that reached nature, beside money that stayed elsewhere.
Reached nature or the ground
Not published
No figure published.
Gained elsewhere
Not totalled
Currency: USD · Window: . All figures cover the same period. * Estimate built from cited figures.
Responses on record
- WWF (March 2007 (reported March 2019)): Called the government's withdrawal of the case a victory. · BuzzFeed News
- WWF Nepal (2020, as stated in the Pillay panel report): Was not aware of most alleged abuses from 2006 to 2016 and treated them as a government matter; suspended funding for Chitwan ranger training and field equipment in July 2020.
In court and with insurers
Every proceeding and every insurer decision on record.
Lawsuits and rulings
- 2006–2007-03DismissedMurder charges against three park officialsNot stated in the sources reviewed · Criminal · State → Three park officials, including the chief warden (charged with murder)
Three park officials were charged with murder after Chaudhary's death. The government withdrew the case in March 2007. BuzzFeed News
Insurers
No insurer decision on record.
What nature saw
Outcomes measured on the ground, and nature's note.
Nature's report opens this page. Below: further outcomes measured on the ground.
Murder charges
Withdrawn
Government, March 2007; three officials had been charged
Autopsy finding
7 broken ribs
As reported by BuzzFeed News
Independent ecological evaluation
Not applicable
The record concerns a death in custody, not a measured ecological outcome
What we don't know
Undisclosed, unproven, untried: recorded as data.
Nature
- Not measured Harm to nature: The record holds no measurement of harm to nature.
Accounts
Record
- None on record How long Chaudhary was held before he died: the main account says about nine days; one secondary account says he was taken to hospital after a week and died two days later.
- Insufficient Reported but not independently verified: a November 2020 panel chaired by Navi Pillay found no evidence that WWF staff directed abuse, but found that implementation of human-rights obligations was inadequate, weakest in the Congo Basin.
- Insufficient Reported but not independently verified: WWF said it accepted the panel's recommendations.
- None on record How the Pillay panel report treated the Chitwan case is not found in the sources reviewed.
- None on record Who laid the murder charges and in which court is not stated in the sources reviewed.
Did the harm stop?
The sources reviewed do not say that the practice at issue stopped. In July 2020, after a separate death at Chitwan, WWF suspended funding for ranger training and field equipment, according to the Pillay panel report.
Who paid?
Shikharam Chaudhary, who died in custody. The sources reviewed record no conviction.
Sources
Voices on record: — Company or project— Government and regulators— Courts✓ Press and investigations✓ Communities and civil society— Researchers
Press and investigations
- WWF's Secret War (Tom Warren and Katie Baker, with the Kathmandu Post)BuzzFeed News · 2019-03-04
Communities and civil society
- WWF scandal, part 10: BuzzFeed News (summary of the BuzzFeed investigation)REDD-Monitor · 2019-03-04
Connected cases
Related matters, and cases linked to this one through the same organisations, with the role each played in both.
- Messok Dja ecoguard abuses (Republic of Congo) Republic of Congo · 2008–2020 Related matter
- WWF (NGO) — here: Conservation NGO; funder and supporter of ranger units; there: Supported the ecoguards (ETIC/TRIDOM programme); appointed the review panel
- WWF independent review (Pillay panel) and US funding suspension International · 2019–2020 Related matter
- WWF (NGO) — here: Conservation NGO; funder and supporter of ranger units; there: Commissioned the independent review; grantee under US review
- WWF-supported ecoguards in Cameroon and CAR (Lobéké, Dzanga-Sangha) Cameroon · 2008–2020 Related matter
- WWF (NGO) — here: Conservation NGO; funder and supporter of ranger units; there: Trained and paid ecoguards in Lobéké; commissioned the independent panel
- Nepal community forestry Nepal · 2000–2026
- WWF (NGO) — here: Conservation NGO; funder and supporter of ranger units; there: Lead of the Hariyo Ban conservation programme in Nepal
- Government of Nepal (Government) — here: Withdrew the murder case in March 2007; there: Regulator and tax authority for community forests
- WWF-funded ranger units accused of torture and killings in Asia and Africa Multiple countries · 2006–2023
- WWF (NGO) — here: Conservation NGO; funder and supporter of ranger units; there: Funded and equipped the ranger units; commissioned the Pillay panel
- WWF Nepal (NGO) — here: National WWF office; reported to have lobbied for the charges to be dropped and later hired a charged ranger; there: Hired one of the accused rangers, per BuzzFeed News
- AGRA (Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa) Africa (13 focus countries) · 2006
- WWF (NGO) — here: Conservation NGO; funder and supporter of ranger units; there: Former employer of AGRA's president
- Alter do Chão and Dia do Fogo fire allegations Brazil · 2019–2024
- WWF (NGO) — here: Conservation NGO; funder and supporter of ranger units; there: Named in an allegation of financing fires; the allegation was found false
- Bhutan constitutional forest rule and Bhutan for Life Bhutan · 2008
- WWF (NGO) — here: Conservation NGO; funder and supporter of ranger units; there: Partner in Bhutan for Life
- Kaziranga shoot-on-sight killings (India) India · 2013–2017
- WWF (NGO) — here: Conservation NGO; funder and supporter of ranger units; there: Five WWF India employees listed as an expert panel on the 2014 strategy proposal (BuzzFeed News)
- Mekong sand mining (Cambodia, Vietnam) Cambodia and Vietnam · 2007–2026
- WWF (NGO) — here: Conservation NGO; funder and supporter of ranger units; there: NGO; sand budget and ten-year stock estimate for the delta
- Nature Conservancy began $10 million partnership with Dow Chemical in 2011 United States · 2007–2021
- WWF (NGO) — here: Conservation NGO; funder and supporter of ranger units; there: conservation group; relationship with Coca-Cola
- Nepal forest carbon deals (World Bank ER-MR, LEAF) Nepal · 2000–2026
- Government of Nepal (Government) — here: Withdrew the murder case in March 2007; there: Seller of emission reductions
- Pillay panel finds no proof WWF directed ranger abuses it supported Democratic Republic of the Congo · 2006–2020
- WWF (NGO) — here: Conservation NGO; funder and supporter of ranger units; there: NGO; funder and partner of the ranger units
- Plastic Bank and rePurpose collector schemes Global · 2017–2025
- WWF (NGO) — here: Conservation NGO; funder and supporter of ranger units; there: NGO; published position on plastic crediting
- Plastic credits and Philippines PCX Philippines · 2020–2025
- WWF (NGO) — here: Conservation NGO; funder and supporter of ranger units; there: Critic of plastic-neutral claims
- Russia declares WWF and Greenpeace 'undesirable' organisations Russia · 2023
- WWF (NGO) — here: Conservation NGO; funder and supporter of ranger units; there: Designated undesirable on 21 June 2023
- Salonga National Park ranger abuses (DR Congo) DR Congo · 2002–2020
- WWF (NGO) — here: Conservation NGO; funder and supporter of ranger units; there: Co-manager of Salonga National Park (since an August 2015 memorandum of understanding)
- TNC chief scientist urged conservation groups to partner with companies United States · 2011–2015
- WWF (NGO) — here: Conservation NGO; funder and supporter of ranger units; there: Coca-Cola partner from 2007 (reported)
- WWF president Prince Bernhard resigned in 1976 after a Lockheed commission surfaced Netherlands · 1970–1976
- WWF (NGO) — here: Conservation NGO; funder and supporter of ranger units; there: charity whose president resigned