Tiger census completed in Shuklaphanta national park

Dodhara Chandni: The tiger census in Shuklaphanta National Park, Kanchanpur, has been successfully completed.

The survey was conducted as part of the National Tiger Survey Program across the Shuklaphanta-Laljhadi-Jogbudha Complex, according to Purushottam Wagle, the park's conservation officer. Fieldwork, which began in the last week of Falgun using the camera trapping method, has now concluded, and the cameras are being collected.

“The cameras placed under Shuklaphanta and Division One have been retrieved,” Wagle said. “The number of tigers will be determined by analyzing the images from these cameras.”

The tiger census in this area is conducted every four years. For the current survey, 520 automatic cameras were installed, with a technical team of 77 personnel involved. The 2022 national census recorded 36 tigers in the park.

The park office also conducts an internal tiger survey annually. According to the latest internal survey, there are 43 tigers in Shuklaphanta. Conservation officers anticipate that the national census results will likely be similar. “The internal survey shows 43 tigers, and the number may not have increased significantly in a single year,” Wagle said. “It is expected that the current national census will reflect a similar count.”