Automatic cameras for counting tigers are missing

Four automatic tiger cameras have gone missing in Shuklaphanta National Park. According to the park's Information Officer and Assistant Conservation Officer Narendra Aryal, two cameras have been lost in Domilla of Krishnapur Municipality, four in Alital and one in Chirkitte of Dadeldhura.

 "No cameras have been found in the area where the tigers were kept for counting," he said. According to him, one camera was found broken by an elephant inside the park area and another was found dragged by a tiger 50 meters away from the place where it was kept. The park has installed automatic cameras in the area around the tiger census. In the Shuklaphanta-Laljhadi-Jogbudha complex, the tiger census was carried out by dividing it into 260 grids with a length of two kilometers and a width of two kilometers. The park has done tiger counting by connecting 520 automatic cameras.

 The tiger census has been carried out in four places including Chandmari, Shuklaphanta, Beldandi and Hirapur under the park, four places including Tilkeni, Bedkot, Domilla and Dadajai under Division Forest Office Kanchanpur and 11 places in Alital, Naula and Chirkite of Dadeldhura.

 A total of 70 technicians and five elephants have been deployed in 20 camps, said Aryal. The tiger census has been conducted from January 29 to 21. A team of technicians has stepped up the task of sorting the photos taken by the automatic cameras set up for counting the tigers according to the grid. Officer Aryal said, "Once the photo separation is completed, we will send it to the department for analysis."

 He said that the department would make public the number of tigers based on the photo analysis. He said the presence of tigers was encouraging compared to last year. According to last year's census, 17 tigers were seen in the park. The tiger census has been conducted in the park since 2009. The government aims to double the number of tigers by 2022. Shuklaphanta is spread over an area of ​​305 square meters. The park is also known as an area with many tigers in a small area.