Nepal has begun its fifth national tiger census, deploying more than 2,300 automated camera traps across key tiger habitats to determine the country’s current tiger population. The nationwide exercise, led by the Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation with financial and technical support from international conservation partners, is expected to conclude in mid-March, with results to be released later in the year.
The census covers approximately 8,400 square kilometres of national parks, wildlife reserves, biological corridors and adjoining forest areas where tigers are known to occur. The landscape has been divided into three major blocks: Chitwan–Parsa, Banke–Bardiya and Shuklaphanta–Laljhadi. Scientific camera-trap methodology is being used uniformly across all sites.
Camera installation work has begun in the Chitwan–Parsa block, the country’s largest tiger landscape. The area has been divided into multiple sub-sections due to its size and the limited availability of cameras. Each two-by-two square kilometre grid is fitted with a pair of cameras placed opposite each other to photograph both flanks of tigers, enabling individual identification based on stripe patterns.
Between 800 and 900 grids will be covered in the Chitwan–Parsa block alone. Cameras will be shifted sequentially from one sub-section to another to ensure complete coverage. The Banke–Bardiya block will follow, with nearly 800 grids distributed across forest areas in Bardiya, Banke and Dang districts. The Shuklaphanta–Laljhadi corridor has been designated as a single block and will be surveyed after cameras are retrieved from earlier sites.
Each camera station will remain active for at least 15 nights. Cameras are installed along forest trails, riverbanks, fire lines, ridges, water sources and salt licks—areas frequently used by tigers and their prey. Motion and heat sensors trigger the cameras to capture images day and night, recording time and location data automatically.
More than 250 trained personnel, including park staff, forest officials, conservation experts and local assistants, have been mobilised for the census. Teams will also conduct prey-base surveys and assess human activity in and around tiger habitats to support broader conservation planning.
Nepal has conducted scientific tiger censuses every four years since 2009, when the country recorded 121 tigers. The population increased to 198 in 2013, 235 in 2018 and 355 in 2022. Chitwan and Bardiya national parks continue to support the highest tiger numbers. Conservation authorities say the current census will provide critical data for managing habitats, reducing human-tiger conflict and sustaining Nepal’s long-term conservation gains.
