Ajit Tumbahamphe, head of the National Trust for Nature Conservation, Bardiya, said that about 450 cameras are needed in and around Bardiya National Park.
What you should know
A tiger census is scheduled to be conducted in Bardiya National Park from the first week of December this year. Cameras for the tiger census have not yet been arranged.
Bardiya National Park has stated that the census has not been managed yet as it will be conducted using camera trapping technology. Ajit Tumbahamphe, head of the National Trust for Nature Conservation, Bardiya, said that around 450 cameras are required in and around Bardiya National Park. He estimated that one camera will cost around Rs 50,000.
The National Park Department has stated that it is preparing to conduct a tiger census in all national parks across the country and surrounding forests from the first week of Poush. However, the park officials are in confusion due to the lack of camera arrangements. The tiger census will be conducted in Chitwan-Parsa, Banke, Bardiya and Shukla National Parks and Laljhari Complex, according to the National Park Department.
Tiger census is conducted in the park every four years. A joint technical team from the National Parks and Wildlife Department, World Wildlife Fund and National Trust for Nature Conservation will conduct the census with the help of camera trapping. Apart from the park, tigers will also be counted in Khata Biological Trail and surrounding areas. The technical team deployed for the tiger census is to be trained from the last week of November. The tiger census will be held for 21 days.
Ashok Ram, Senior Chief Conservation Officer of Bardiya National Park, said that there are not enough cameras for the tiger census. Hari Bhadra Acharya, Senior Ecologist of the National Parks Department, said that the initiative for cameras is being taken. ‘Everyone is collecting for cameras,’ he said, ‘4,000 cameras are required for the tiger census.’ The National Parks Department estimates that the tiger census will cost 30 million rupees.
More than a hundred skilled technical teams and staff from the park, the World Wildlife Fund, and the Nature Conservation Fund are to be deployed for the tiger census. The census will be conducted simultaneously in Banke and Bardiya by forming blocks. The park has stated that about a dozen tamed elephants will be deployed for protection during the tiger census.
The first tiger census was conducted in 2018. At that time, the number of tigers in Bardiya had reached 87. There were 50 tigers in Bardiya National Park during the 2013 census. Four years ago, the number of tigers in Bardiya had reached 125.
