The same 'camera trap method' used during the tiger census in 2009-2010 is still being used today.
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The work of installing cameras for tiger census in the third block of the Chitwan-Parsa Complex began on Thursday.
The information was given at a coordination meeting of the technical committee held at the Parsa National Park office on Thursday.
In the meeting, Haribhadra Acharya, senior ecologist at the National Parks and Wildlife Conservation Department, said that the census work has been completed in the first and second blocks of the Chitwan-Parsa complex and the work of installing cameras for the census has started in the third block from Thursday.
He said that the tiger census has been started in this complex since December 1 and the work of the third block has been started after 40 days, at an average rate of 20 days in each block. ‘The target is to complete the census in all three blocks in two months at a rate of 20 days in each block,’ he said. ‘The work of installing cameras simultaneously in some areas under the Parsa National Park office, West and East, Parsa, Bara and Makawanpur Division Forest Offices has been started.’
The ‘camera trap method’ used in 2009-2010 during the tiger census is still being used. This time, the scope of the park and the large forest area outside the park where tigers are found has been covered for the census, he said.
12 camps have been set up to install cameras for the tiger census. The 12 camps have been set up in Shitalpur, Bhatha, Mahadevpatti, Amlekhgunj, Churiyamai, Ratomate, Sahajnath, Ni
There are two camps in Bhatha alone and one camp in all other places. A total of 84 people have been deployed for this work, with a technical team of 7 people in all the camps, Acharya said.
A pair of cameras is being installed in every two square kilometers of forest for the tiger census. 656 cameras at the rate of 328 pairs are being used for the tiger census. They will be installed at a height of 40 to 60 centimeters from the ground and at a distance of 6 to 8 meters. Since those cameras cannot cover the entire block at once, the cameras will be deployed in two batches, i.e. 1,204 times, Acharya said.
Chitwan National Park Chief Conservation Officer Dr Ganesh Pant said that the tiger census, which is conducted every four years, was conducted this year with the support of the Wildlife Department, National Trust for Nature Conservation, WWF Nepal and ZSL Nepal and in collaboration with stakeholders including the Nepal Army, Nepal Police, Division Forest Office and others.
Parsa National Park Senior Conservation Officer Ramchandra Khatiwada said that in the census four years ago, a total of 355 adult tigers were counted across Nepal, including 41 in Parsa National Park, 128 in Chitwan National Park and 125 in Bardiya National Park. He said that it is not possible to predict the number of tigers before this census.
Chitwan National Park Conservation Officer Hemraj Acharya said that wild elephants have destroyed two dozen cameras, 8 in the first block and 16 in the second block, during the tiger census in the Chitwan-Parsa complex so far. He also said that some cameras were lost during the process.
