Kathmandu: The rhino census, which was halted last year after donors indicated they could not provide support, will be conducted this year.
This year, the Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation has allocated some budget for this purpose. Dr Ram Chandra Kandel, the Director General of the Department, said that the tiger count is done every four years.
Accordingly, this financial year, a tiger count will be conducted. According to him, the tiger census is starting in November. He mentioned that it will take about three months to conduct the tiger census. The tiger count is carried out in Parsa, Chitwan, Banke, Bardiya, and Suklaphanta national parks.
For the tiger count, the Department has allocated Rs 1.8 million in the budget of the current fiscal year, and more than Rs 15 million is said to be required for this purpose. He said rhino counting programme has been scheduled for the month of April.
It takes one month to count the rhinos. The rhino census will be carried out in Chitwan National Park, Parsa National Park, Shuklaphanta National Park, and Koshi Tappu National Park. Director General Kandel said Rs 1.8 million has been earmarked for the rhino census.
The cost of conducting the rhino census is expected to exceed 20 million rupees. The remaining amount will be requested from donors. It was reported that there were 335 tigers in Nepal according to the tiger census conducted in 2022.
According to the 2022 census, there are 128 tigers in Chitwan, 125 in Bardiya National Park, 25 in Banke National Park, 41 in Parsa, and 36 in Shuklaphanta. In Nepal, tiger census was also conducted in 2009, 2013, and 2018.
In the 2009 count, 121 tigers were found across the country, 198 were found in 2013 and 235 in 2018. The rhino count is done by directly observing (in real-time) riding an elephant. Seven hundred and fifty-two rhinos were found in national parks and conservation areas across the country in the rhino count conducted in 2021.
In the 1960s, the population of rhinos had decreased to about 100. It is estimated that there were 800 rhinos in Nepal in the 1950s. In the 2021 census, 694 rhinos were counted in Chitwan National Park. The rhino count increased from 29 to 38 in Bardiya National Park, and from eight to 18 in Shuklaphanta.