KATHMANDU, JULY 29

Nepal has nearly tripled its wild tiger population, officials announced today, in a victory for the country's efforts to help the big cats claw their way back from extinction.

Deforestation, human encroachment on habitats and poaching have devastated tiger populations across Asia, but Nepal and 12 other countries signed a pledge in 2010 to double their numbers by this year.

Nepal is the only country to meet or beat the target and a survey in 2022 counted 355 of the creatures, up from around 121 in 2009.

'We have succeeded in meeting an ambitious goal... I thank everyone involved in conservation of tigers,' Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba said at an event unveiling the figures in Kathmandu.

Conservationists surveyed the population with thousands of motion-sensitive cameras set up across a vast stretch of Nepal's southern plains, where the majestic predators roam.

Wildlife experts combed through thousands of images to identify individual animals by their unique stripes.

More than 100,000 tigers roamed the world at the turn of the 20th century, but that number fell to an all-time low of 3,200 in 2010.

Tiger numbers in Nepal have seen a steady rise since the St Petersburg declaration in 2010, when all 13 range countries committed to doubling the tiger numbers by 2022. Four-year periodic population assessments indicated a rise in Nepal's tiger population to 198 and 235 in 2014 and 2018, respectively.

'This success was possible due to the unwavering political will of the Government of Nepal, contributions of many stakeholders including enforcement agencies and conservation partners, but most of all the communities that live alongside tigers,' said Pem Narayan Kandel, secretary at the Ministry of Forests and Environment. 'A key challenge moving forward is to ensure cohabitation between people and nature, as well as to reconcile the country's growth aspirations with the need to keep nature secure.'

The country's internationally praised efforts to increase tiger numbers have, however, had a negative impact on some communities living near their habitats.

At least 16 people have been killed in tiger attacks in the past year, according to government data.

The latest figures are a testament to the decades of investment supporting the country's holistic endeavours towards restoration of wildlife corridors, extension of core habitats, and control of wildlife crime. Expansion of protected area coverage included creation of Banke National Park. A network of corridors was strengthened to interconnect tiger habitats within Nepal as well as with those in India.

World Wide Fund for Nature's Nepal representative Ghana Gurung said Nepal's achievement had set the benchmark for tiger conservation globally, but had also thrown up new challenges. 'The challenge now is to manage it, and manage the tiger-human conflict... we need to take an integrated approach to minimise the problems,' he told AFP.

A version of this article appears in the print on July 30, 2022, of The Himalayan Times.