Chitwan: The fourth census of rare Royal Bengal tiger is starting today from Chitwan National Park and Parsa National Park. The census is being held by making the two national parks a single block.
The tiger census is being kicked off amid a special event at Sauraha of Chitwan National Park today at the presence of Minister for Forest and Environment Ram Sahaya Prasad Yadav and other high-level officials as well as the representatives from development partners.
Director General of Department of National Park and Wildlife Conservation Dr Ram Chandra Kandel said that another separate block would be made by including Bardiya and Banke districts from December 15. The team then will conduct the tiger census in Shuklaphanta and Laljhadi.
The total cost for the tiger census is estimated around Rs 40 million and special attention is accorded for the security of the technicians, Dr Kandel said. The technicians involved in the tiger counting are insured for Rs 1 million and the Nepal Army personnel deployed for the security of national park would also accompany the enumerators for their security.
It is said that a total of 120 technicians and assistants in addition to some elephants would be mobilized in Chitwan National Park for this purpose. The technicians and assistants deployed for the tiger counting would be stationed in 16 different camps there.
The camera trapping method will be used in the census wherein 360 cameras’ traps are laid along the tiger’s path to capture their images as they move. The task is expected to be completed in almost two months.
The final results are expected to arrive within four months after the analysis of the images captured. This is the fourth time that Nepal is conducting the tiger census. Prior to this, the censuses were held in 2008, 2013 and 2018.
Narayan Adhikari/RSS
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