National
Int'l tiger day: Nepal on course to achieving ’22 target
Nepal’s aim to double the number of tigers by 2022 is right on track and the target is not impossible if things continue as they are, according to Nurendra Aryal, assistant conservation officer and information officer at the Chitwan National Park.Rastriya Samachar Samiti
Nepal’s aim to double the number of tigers by 2022 is right on track and the target is not impossible if things continue as they are, according to Nurendra Aryal, assistant conservation officer and information officer at the Chitwan National Park.
According to the 2013 census, tiger population in Nepal is 198, a jump of 63 percent from 2009.
Thirteen tiger-range countries, including Nepal, in 2010 had endorsed a the Global Tiger Recovery Programme (GTRP) in the St Petersburg Declaration on Tiger Conservation at the International Tiger Forum, or tiger summit, held in St Petersburg, Russia, on November 21–24, 2010.
Endorsing the GTRP, Nepal then committed to achieving the target of having at least 250 wild cats by 2022.
The Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation (DNPWC) estimates that the number of tiger may have increased in national parks and reserves in the last four years as the last census was carried in 2013.
Nepal is set to carry out tiger census later this year.
The Chitwan National Park has the highest number of tigers (120) followed by Bardiya National Park (62), Shuklaphanta National Park (17), Parsa Wildlife Reserve (7) and Banke National Park (4). Poaching continues to remain the biggest threat to wild cats, according to experts, who say if the country can prevent poaching, achieving the 2022 target will not be that difficult.
Deforestation, human encroachment of its habitat and haphazard opening of roads among others are other challenges that must be addressed to conserve tigers, the experts say.
Bishnu Shrestha, a conservation education officer at the DNPWC, said the immediate measures should be taken to conserve the Chure region to stop tigers from migrating.
Increasing human-wildlife conflict is also affecting tiger conservation efforts.
Almost 5 percent of the wild cats in the Chitwan National Park are under threat due to human-wildlife conflict, according to an earlier study carried out a team of experts. Various events were organised on Saturday in Chitwan to mark International Tiger Day, which is observed globally on July 29.