The Uttar Pradesh government, the Nepali team was told, is planning to build the tiger reserve in its Balarampur district adjoining Nepal.

'We are going to bring this to the notice of Nepal's parliament and foreign ministry,' Bishwokarma said. 'Then the foreign ministry will be asked to take up the matter with the Indian government.'

The proposed tiger reserve controversy comes close on the heels of a growing furore over the death of at least three wild elephants in eastern Nepal's Jhapa district.

About 10 days ago, the herd entered Jhapa's Baundangi village, apparently driven by heavy rains in India's Assam state.

The tuskers destroyed over 200 huts and destroyed crops worth millions of rupees, causing the enraged villagers to drive them out.

While one elephant was killed by an electric fence, two others died due to the standoff with the villagers.

It has created a storm in India with wildlife activists demanding humane treatment of the herds.

Nepal's wildlife rights activists say the two countries should jointly come up with a compensatory mechanism to appease the villagers, who are accusing the Indian authorities of deliberately unleashing the herd on them.