Nepal starts tiger census to track recovery

Nepal launched on Tuesday a nationwide tiger census, a key step in conservation efforts to aid the recovery of the big cats that once faced near extinction in the Himalayan nation.

The survey will be conducted in four national parks in Nepal's forested southern plains, covering more than 8,000 square kilometres (3,000 square miles) of protected areas and adjoining forests, officials said.

More than 2,300 motion-sensitive camera traps will be deployed, with over 250 conservation staff mobilised for the operation covering the Chitwan, Banke, Bardiya and Shuklaphanta national parks.

Results are expected by July 2026.

Ecologist Haribhadra Acharya, coordinator of the National Tiger Census Technical Committee, said cameras helped scientists isolate individual animals with their unique stripe patterns, identifying them to prevent double counting.

"We have adopted capture and recapture methodology with camera traps," Acharya told AFP.

Around 800 cameras will be installed in Chitwan National Park from Thursday, according to Abinash Thapa Magar of the park authority.

"The survey is aimed at tracking the status of the tiger -- their habitat and status of prey availability, and conflict with humans," Magar told AFP.

Deforestation, habitat encroachment and poaching have devastated tiger populations across Asia, but Nepal has been widely praised for its conservation efforts.

A 2022 survey found that the country's tiger population had tripled to 355 since 2010, while numbers of one-horned rhinoceros have risen from around 100 in the 1960s to 752 in 2021.

Conservation success has extended beyond tigers. A first nationwide survey released in April estimated nearly 400 snow leopards.

AFP