Tag Archives: Tiger
Tiger population up to 155 from 121 in Nepal
Six month long tiger census made public reveals that the tiger population in Nepal has gone up to 155 from 121 last year. In 2009, the counting was done in Chitwan, Parsa, Bardia and Suklaphata which revealed 121 tigers. But this year, tigers were counted only in Chitwan (famous for Nepal’s first national park with endangered animals like tigers and one horn rhino) and the number exceeded last year’s total population. For the count, 310 sets of cameras were installed in Chitwan National Park including Churia and Barandabhar buffer zone, spread over 1,261 square kilometers. “Field study for population counting was done between December and March. The number of tigers in Chitwan National Park has increased from 91 to 125,” said Jhamak Bahadur Karki, coordinator of tiger research programme, Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation. 
According to Karki, Nepal now boasts about six tigers per 100 sq km in the Terai districts which is the prime habitat of the big cats. “This is not a dramatic change. We should not forget that about 700 square km of the adjoining Churia hills, which is a potential habitat of tigers, was added in the survey area this year,” said Bibas Pandav, tiger expert, WWF. Tiger monitoring in Chitwan National Park was conducted by the DNPWC with the support of National Trust for nature Conservation and World Wildlife Fund, incurring an expenditure of $37,400. “Nepal has been giving tiger conservation top priority. An increase in the population of the endangered species may set an example for other countries where tigers are found,” said Shanta Raj Jnawali, Terai Director of National Trust for Nature Conservation.
A camera that automatically captures the images of any living thing that passes by them, using the capture reapture method was used during this census.
Census result:
Chitwan – 125 (91 in 2009, 125 in 2010)
Methodology
- 310 sets of cameras fixed in Chitwan National Park for 20 days.
- Cameras were placed at a distance of 1.5 to 2.25 km
- 132,000 photographs captured with 11,589 images of animals
- 367 photographs of tigers (left flanks: 162; right flanks: 182; cubs and unidentified: 23)
Sunderbans may submerge by 2020
At least 15 percent of the sunderbeans – the world’s largest mangrove forests will be submerged by 2020 and neglecting the area further can have global implications as it is highly venerable to climate change, says a UNDP report. The District Human Development Report (DHDR) of North 24 Parganas, South 24 Parganas and Utter Dinajpur, was released on July 12 in partnership with the West Bengal Government’s Development and Planning Department and the Planning Commission. 
“Sunderbans in South 24 Pargans is highly vulnerable to climate change and it is estimated that 15 percent of the region will be submerged by 2020,” says the report. “Neglecting the Sinderbans can have global implications.” The report says the island blocks of Basanti, Gosaba, Kultai, Patharpatima and Sagar needs special attention as there are vulnerable to natural disaster. Livelihood opportunities are very less in most of the islands due to poor infrastructure.
“Action at local level is critical if National Development and the globally agreed Millennium Development Goals are to be achieved,” said Fadzai Gwaradzimba, chief, South and West Asia division, Regional Bureau for Asia and the Pacific, UNDP. Nirupam Sen, West Bengal Minister of development and planning said, “It is hoped that the DHDR will serve as a primary Document for building a district vision and for assessing and re-addressing disparities within the district.”
The Sunderbans is the largest single block of tidal mangrove forest in the world and is a World Heritage site. The Sunderbans is intersected by a complex network of tidal water ways, mud flats and small islands of salt tolerant mangrove forests. The area is known as the abode of the Royal Bengal Tigers.
Tiger numbers increase in India
The number of tigers in India has risen for the first time in a decade, according to a new official census published in Delhi. Campaigners and officials have hailed the news as proving that the big cat which has suffered a 97 per cent population decline in the past century can still be saved.
In India, many tigers continue to be killed by poachers or die as a result of pressure on their natural habitats from the rapidly growing human population or environmental damaging caused by a lack of governance and the booming economy.
There are around 3,000 wild tigers in the world, of which around half live in India. The census is believed to put the total number of wild tigers in India at around 1,550 – 10 per cent more than in 2008.
However, this may prove controversial because it has included the vast jungle and swamp areas of the Sunderbans, an estuary zone on the Bay of Bengal that had previously proved too difficult to properly survey.
Conservationists are also uncertain about the accuracy of the latest figures, claiming the methods used allowed the same tiger to be counted several times. “A 10 per cent increase is good news and very significant — but you can always fudge the figures if you want to, whatever counting method you use,” MK Ranjitsinh, the chairman of the Wildlife Trust of India and one of India’s best-known tiger campaigners, said.
In the 1970s, the Indian tiger population dropped to near 1,000. A major effort to establish reserves and increase protection of the animals resulted in numbers trebling by the end of the 1990s. Indian tigers are a major draw for tourists, and attempts are currently being made to re populate national parks that have seen all their tigers die, many through poaching to supply the growing demand for traditional medicines in China. But problems remain. Many villages are still either within reserves or close to them, and local people are frequently at- tacked while collecting wood or walking to their fields.
“The human population continues to grow and that means reduction of prey, threats to the isolation of the tiger habitat and increasing danger of direct human- tiger conflict. We may have won a battle, but you have to win the war,” Ranjitsinhsaid.