Kathmandu, Aug 9 (PTI) As Nepal continues to witness man-tiger conflicts after an increased number of tigers, experts on Saturday advocated the “need to change human behaviour towards tiger” and taking
efforts at managing the habitats for the big cats better.
In the past five years, at least 42 people have lost their lives in tiger attacks, data from the Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation (DNPWC), the body responsible for preserving wildlife in the country, showed.
Nepal has the Royal Bengal Tiger, also called Pate Bagh (Pate meaning stripped) or Nepal Tiger in the local language.
At least 16 of the over 350 tigers across Nepal have been identified for straying beyond their natural habitat or protected areas and preying on both humans and livestock, the officials said.
Pointing out that tiger-human conflicts have occurred in the past too and calling it “natural,” Ghanashyam Gurung, WWF country representative for Nepal, said there have been conflicts between man and other wild animals too, for instance elephants.
“However, the incidents of man-tiger conflict have reduced to a minimum. Compared to the data from 2019–2020, such incidents are negligible in 2024-25, Gurung said.
He, however, did not give exact numbers.
Nepal's conservation work has substantially increased the number of tigers over the past decade. After the 13 tiger range countries, including Nepal, pledged to double the number of tigers in 12 years since 2009, the Himalayan nation has succeeded in almost tripling the numbers from 121 then to 355 in 2022.
The next tiger census is yet to happen.
Haribhadra Acharya, DNPWC's Information Officer and senior ecologist said reasons for tigers straying into human habitations near the protected areas or buffer zone vary for each and every individual.
“The tigers can be old, sick or wounded and cannot prey on herbivorous animals in their natural habitat. Such tigers usually enter human settlements in search of food and start creating problems for the local people,” Acharya explained.
Loss of habitat for various reasons also contributes to tigers straying beyond forests.
As recently as on July 22, a tiger that had entered a human settlement from Chitwan National Park was brought under control and captured from Buddhanagar in Bharatpur Metropolis, Ganga Prasad Khatiwada, Chief Conservation Officer of the park, told local media.
Nepal’s current tiger carrying capacity is around 400, the WWF Nepal official said, adding, the issue of carrying capacity was also discussed during the International Tigers’ Day on July 29 at a meeting in Kathmandu.
The experts participating in the meeting pointed out that the carrying capacity of the tiger is not a big issue as such.
The five protected areas that are home to the tiger species are Chitwan, Bardiya, Shuklaphanta, Bankey and Parsa.
Chitwan National Park, Nepal's first national park at the Himalayan foothills in Terai region and inscribed in the UNESCO World Heritage list for natural sites, had six such tigers from amongst 128, the largest number among all protected areas. An old tiger died recently, reducing the number to five.
Four of these 16 are from Bardiya and there is one each in Parsa and Bankey areas.
Five tigers that had led to man-animal conflict over the last few months are in the Central Zoo in Lalitpur district, near Kathmandu.
“As the number of tigers has increased in the five protected areas over the years, managing them has also become a difficult task,” conservationists said.
People living near the forest areas, especially the buffer zones, chop trees for fire-wood and cut grass for their livestock. Highways and other infrastructure projects cut across forests.
“As we can’t change the behaviour of the tiger, we need to change the human behaviour towards the tiger,” Gurung said.
The WWF Nepal has, therefore, launched a campaign regarding behaviour change in the areas adjoining to the protected areas. “This has started showing good results,” Gurung pointed out. PTI SBP NPK
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