With Nepal’s tiger population steadily increasing, concerns over habitat shrinkage and potential human-wildlife conflict are becoming more pressing. Experts have emphasized the urgent need to expand tiger habitats to prevent clashes with humans, especially those living in settlements in the buffer zones.
Speaking at an interaction program organized by Chitwan National Park, Haribhadra Acharya, senior ecologist at the Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation, highlighted the critical need for habitat expansion. He warned that without sufficient space, tigers might increasingly venture into human settlements, leading to conflicts.
"We need to protect tigers by keeping them in open zoos, which could also contribute to income generation," he suggested.
Nepal's tiger population has surged from 121 in 2009 to 355 in 2022, with numbers rising to 198 in 2013 and 253 in 2018. However, Acharya pointed out that the increase in tiger numbers has led to a 93% reduction in their effective habitat. While conservation efforts have contributed to this growth, it has also put pressure on available forest areas, potentially driving tigers to hunt domestic animals and even pose a threat to human settlements.
According to Acharya, Nepal’s forests can accommodate around 500 tigers, with the core park areas estimated to support 404. However, maintaining a stable tiger population also requires protecting their prey, primarily deer species, as well as other food sources like monkeys and livestock.
Globally, the tiger population has plummeted from about 100,000 a century ago to just 5,000 at present. Nepal’s success in conservation is remarkable, but experts warn that without proper habitat management, rising tiger numbers could lead to more human-wildlife conflicts. – With inputs from RSS
