Tiger survey work completed in Chitwan National Park

Under the National Tiger Survey 2078, the work of tiger survey in Chitwan National Park and surrounding areas has been completed. In Parsa National Park and forest area, where the census was started by constructing a single complex, the third week of January is coming to an end.

According to Dr. Baburam Lamichhane, head of the National Nature Conservation Fund, Sauraha, the survey has been being conducted in all the areas except Pratappur of Parsa, Parsa, Bara, and Rautahat Division Forest Office from the first week of January. He informed me that 300 pairs of cameras have been placed in those areas. The survey will be completed in the same area by February 3. As soon as those areas are completed, surveys will be carried out in Shuklaphanta and Laljhadi areas with the help of cameras and after surveying all the areas, data will be collected.

The survey was started from Chitwan on December 5 by making Chitwan and Parsa into three blocks. Camera trapping work has been completed in the first and second blocks and work has started in the third block. The tigers have been surveyed using the camera trapping method. Every four square kilometers of the area is surveyed by assembling a pair of cameras on a grid. According to Ganesh Prasad Tiwari, Assistant Conservation Officer and Information Officer of the park, camera trap, range finder, GPS and record firm have been used in the survey.

The photos collected by the camera are now being stored on laptops and computers. He informed that after the completion of the survey work in all three blocks, the team including experts will collect the photos taken from the camera in one place and get the final result through software. According to the survey, work has been started in Bardiya and Banke blocks from November 13, while work will be started in Shuklaphanta and Laljhadi blocks after the completion of the second block.

It is estimated to cost around Rs. 40 million, he said. Automatic cameras are installed at a height of about 45 to 60 cm above the ground for tiger surveying. When the tiger is walking through the area where the camera is connected, the automatic camera takes a photo of the tiger.

After the photo study, the statistics are planned to be made public on the occasion of World Tiger Day on July 29. A national survey of tigers was launched in 2009. Looking at the results so far, it was estimated that there were 93 to 97 adult tigers in Nepal in 1995-96. According to the 2009 survey, there were 121, in 2013 198 and in 2018 there were 235 adult tigers. According to the 2018 Tiger Census, 235 adult tigers were found in Nepal. At that time, 93 tigers were found in Chitwan, 87 in Bardiya, 18 in Parsa, 16 in Shukla and 21 in Banke. This number is expected to increase.

Minister for Forest and Environment Ram Sahay Prasad Yadav inaugurated the tiger survey by operating an automatic camera. Tigers are found in Chitwan, Bardiya, Parsa, Shuklaphanta and Banke National Parks and surrounding National Forest areas of Nepal. Counting has started in those areas.

Nepal had pledged to increase the number of tigers to 250 by 2022 at the 2010 Tiger Summit of 13 Heads of State in St. Petersburg, Russia. At that time, there were 121 tigers in Nepal. Nepal's commitment to more than double the number was made by the then Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal. In Nepal, tigers are counted every four to five years. Experts estimate that the number of tigers will increase with this survey as the number of tigers is increasing in the parks and forest areas. Tourists and conservationists visiting the park have been saying that they have seen the tiger.