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NEPAL-CONSERVATION-TIGER
Tiger population nearly doubles in Nepal
KATHMANDU, Sept 24, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – Nepal’s wild tiger population has
nearly doubled over the last nine years, officials said Monday, in a victory
for the impoverished country’s drive to save the endangered big cats.
Wildlife groups have welcomed the news as a sign that political
involvement and innovative conservation strategies can reverse the decline of
the majestic Royal Bengal tiger.
A survey carried out earlier this year counted 235 tigers in Nepal, up
from around 121 in 2009.
Conservationists and wildlife experts used more than 4,000 cameras and
around 600 elephants, trawling a 2,700-kilometre (1,700-mile) route across
Nepal’s southern plains where the big cats roam.
“This is a result of concentrated unified efforts by the government along
with the local community and other stakeholders to protect the tiger’s
habitat and fight against poaching,” Man Bahadur Khadka, director general of
Nepal’s Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation, told AFP.
Deforestation, encroachment of habitat and poaching have devastated big
cat numbers across Asia, but in 2010 Nepal and 12 other countries signed a
pledge to double their tiger numbers by 2022.
The 2010 Tiger Conservation Plan — which is backed by high profile
figures including actor Leonardo DiCaprio — quickly began bearing fruit, and
in 2016 the World Wildlife Fund and the Global Tiger Forum announced that the
wild tiger population had increased for the first time in more than a
century.
In 1900, more than 100,000 tigers roamed the world but that fell to an
all-time low of 3,200 in 2010.
DiCaprio tweeted his support for Nepal’s success: “I am proud of
@dicapriofdn’s partnership with @World_Wildlife to support Nepal and local
communities in doubling the population of wild tigers.”
Ghana Gurung, country representative of WWF in Nepal, said the country’s
progress was an example for tiger conservation globally.
“The challenge now is to continue these efforts to protect their habitats
and numbers for the long-term survival of the tigers,” he said.
BSS/AFP/MRI/1530 HRS