Kathmandu

Tigers are making a spectacular return in Nepal. From 121 big cats in 2010, their population have more than doubled to 355 in 2022, according to the December census unveiled by Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba at a programme to mark International Tiger Day in Kathmandu on Friday.

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With this, Nepal has not only managed to pull off an extraordinary feat, it has also managed to achieve the goal of doubling its tiger population by 2022 as per its commitment, along with 12 other tiger range countries, in the first tiger summit in 2010 in St Petersburg.

Nepal at the time had committed to increase the tiger population to 250 by 2022.

Notably, Nepal is the first of the 13 tiger range countries to release its tiger population figures ahead of the summit due to take place in Vladivostok, eastern Russia, in September, where global conservation efforts of these countries would be evaluated.

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A combination of factors has helped the Himalayan country to get to this achievement. According to BBC, Nepal's zero-poaching approach has worked wonders to protect the tigers. The military units have been supporting the national park teams, and in buffer zones next to the park, community anti-poaching units have been monitoring nature corridors that allow tigers to roam safely.

According to the new census, Chitwan National Park now has 128 tigers from 93 earlier, Bardia National Park has 125 from 87 earlier, Banke National Park has 25 and Shuklaphanta National Park has 36 and Parsa National Park has 41, reports the Kathmandu Post.

Though ecological experts have welcomed the spike in tiger numbers, they have also expressed concerns over sustaining them in a habitable environment while averting human-tiger conflict, which has increased in recent years.

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According to the Kathmandu-based newspaper, there have been 104 tiger attacks inside protected areas in the last three years, in which 62 people have been killed.

“People are now seeing and encountering tigers everywhere, so cases of tiger-human conflict are increasing. This indicates that the tiger population is almost at a maximum level in Nepal. We are a small country. This increase is a new challenge for the government. Now we need to show tigers and people can coexist,” Shiv Raj Bhatta, a conservation programme director at WWF Nepal, told The Guardian.

(With inputs from agencies)

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