Kathmandu: World Tiger Day is celebrated on July 29 every year. This year, this day is being celebrated all over the world along with Nepal with the original resolution of 'Tiger's Existence: Human Responsibility. According to the Ministry of Forest and Environment, World Tiger Day is being celebrated in Nepal by organizing various programs at the central and local levels.
In coordination with the Ministry, the Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation is going to put up a hoarding board on tiger conservation at Baber Mahal today, hold a tiger dialogue program under the chief guest of Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba, and build a tiger habitat and wildlife-friendly infrastructure, said Haribhadra Acharya, Information Officer. Apart from this, various programs are also being conducted at the local level.
Patebagh is found in 13 countries of the world. At a 2010 conference of heads of state and government in St. Petersburg, Russia, the 13 tiger nations pledged to double the number of tigers by 2022.
According to the commitment, Nepal had committed to double the number of tigers in Nepal from 121 to 250 adult tigers as per the 2009 census. Which is close to achieving the goal. The ministry last conducted the national tiger census in 2018. According to the census, the number of tigers in Nepal has reached 235. There were 93 tigers in Chitwan National Park, 87 in Bardiya National Park, 21 in Banke National Park, 18 in Parsa National Park, and 16 in Shuklaphanta National Park and intermediate and surrounding forest areas.
The last tiger census was conducted from December 1, 2017, to April 3, 2018, using modern cameras in the Terai region from Parsa to Kanchanpur. Nepal has been celebrating Tiger Day since 2067 BS and has been counting tigers at the national level. The number of tigers in Nepal was 98 in 1995, 109 in 2000, 126 in 2005, 121 in 2009, and 198 in 2013, according to the Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation.
In 2016, India had the highest number of 2,226 tigers in the world, followed by Laos with two. Tigers are found in Indonesia, Cambodia, China, Thailand, Nepal, Bangladesh, India, Bhutan, Vietnam, Malaysia, Myanmar, Russia, and Laos. The number of tigers in the world is three thousand 890.
Of the 16,161 square kilometers surveyed in the Terai-Landscape of Nepal, 11,057 square kilometers (68 percent) have a tiger presence. Tigers are present in 98 percent of the protected areas where tigers are found. According to the department, the species is present in only 60 percent of the areas where tigers are found outside the protected areas.
It is believed that the country's commitment to double the number of tigers (250 adult tigers) by 2022 will be fulfilled as the country has made promising achievements in the field of biodiversity conservation and the latest results of the tiger census.
One and a half dozen people died from tiger attacks last year
Due to the recent shrinkage of habitat due to lack of wildlife-friendly infrastructure and increase in the number of tigers reaching human settlements in search of food, the growing conflict with humans has become a major challenge for tiger conservation.
In the last fiscal year alone, about a dozen people have been killed in tiger attacks in and around Bardiya National Park, said Acharya, the department's information officer. Similarly, five people were killed in a tiger attack in Chitwan National Park and surrounding areas, while two tigers died in road accidents in Parsa National Park and Bardiya, according to the department.
