BIRJUNG: Tiger counting has been commenced today in the third block of Chitwan and Parsa National Parks, after the counting was completed in two blocks.

Senior ecologist Haribhadra Acharya of the Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation informed that tigers are being counted in Chitwan–Parsa by dividing the area into three blocks.

“In Chitwan-Parsa National Park, the tiger counting is being done by dividing it into three blocks. The tiger census work in the Chitwan-Parsa area has been completed in two blocks. However, the data processing and other related work is still pending,” he said, adding that work for installing automatic cameras at various locations for the third block of Chitwan–Parsa has progressed and the camera installation work will continue until Saturday.

After installing the camera, the tiger’s movement will be monitored for 15 days and nights. Based on the tigers’ activities recorded on the camera, the number of tigers will be determined.

Tiger census is conducted every four years. Employees of the national park, technicians from the National Trust for Nature Conservation, local volunteers, students, and conservation partners are employed to conduct the census. The number of tigers is determined by looking at photographs of the tigers and identifying their unique stripes.

According to the tiger census conducted in 2022, there were 355 tigers in Nepal. Among them, 128 tigers were found in Chitwan National Park and 41 in Parsa National Park. The remaining were found in other locations.