Nepal has launched a large-scale tiger census across four southern-plain national parks, covering more than 8,000 sq km. The operation will deploy over 2,300 motion-sensitive camera traps and 250+ staff, using camera-based capture–recapture methods to identify individual tigers and avoid double counting. Results are expected by July 2026, and the survey will also assess habitat health, prey availability and human–tiger conflict. The effort builds on past conservation gains, including a 2022 count of 355 tigers.
Nepal Launches Ambitious Nationwide Tiger Census to Track Recovery
Deforestation, habitat encroachment and poaching have devastated tiger populations across Asia (Prakash MATHEMA)(Prakash MATHEMA/AFP/AFP)
Nepal on Tuesday launched a nationwide tiger census — a major conservation initiative designed to measure the recovery of tigers that once neared extinction in the Himalayan nation.
The survey will be carried out across four national parks in Nepal's forested southern plains — Chitwan, Banke, Bardiya and Shuklaphanta — covering more than 8,000 square kilometres (about 3,000 square miles) of protected areas and adjoining forests, officials said.
Authorities plan to deploy over 2,300 motion-sensitive camera traps and mobilise more than 250 conservation staff for the operation. Results from the census are expected by July 2026.
Ecologist Haribhadra Acharya, coordinator of the National Tiger Census Technical Committee, said camera images let researchers distinguish individual tigers by their unique stripe patterns, preventing double counts.
"We have adopted capture and recapture methodology with camera traps," Acharya told AFP.
Park authorities say roughly 800 cameras will be installed in Chitwan National Park beginning Thursday, according to Abinash Thapa Magar of the park authority.
Objectives
Officials say the census will not only count tigers but also assess habitat condition, prey availability and the extent of human–tiger conflict — information that will guide future conservation and community-protection measures.
Context and Conservation Progress
Across Asia, deforestation, habitat encroachment and poaching have devastated tiger populations. Nepal, however, has been widely praised for conservation gains: a 2022 national survey found the country's tiger population had risen to 355 — roughly three times the 2010 estimate. The one-horned rhinoceros population has also rebounded from around 100 in the 1960s to 752 in 2021.
Conservation successes extend beyond tigers: Nepal's first nationwide snow leopard survey, released in April, estimated nearly 400 snow leopards.
The new census represents an effort to translate past gains into long-term, evidence-based management so tigers—and the ecosystems they depend on—remain protected for the future.
