Kathmandu, March 3:

Even as the tiger census is currently underway in protected areas of the country west of

the Bagmati river, experts say the number of big cats could go down in much as the

same way the number of rhinoceros went down in dramatic manner in the census conducted last year.

But Department of National Park and Wildlife Conservation (DNPWC) officials have declined from conceding that the number of tigers could have gone down in the intervening period after the census held in 2000.

The claim is based on a view that tigers perhaps do not face poachers as the rhinoceroses.

The counting based on a mix of camera trapping and pugmarks has concluded in Royal Chitwan National Park and Royal Sukhlaphanta Wildlife Sanctuary while it is going on in Royal Bardiya National Park. The outcome of the census is closely guarded.

The last census held in 2000 had found the number of tigris panthera at 356.

“Do not be surprised if the number of tigers has gone down five years on. Natural breeding could have added some, but what is also possible is poachers could have taken away some,” said Prolad Yonjan, a wildlife biologist who is now associated with Resources Himalaya.

He based his claim on instances of DNPWC officials showing picture of a tiger which had reportedly died after breaking his backbone after having fallen into a ditch in the wild last year.

“It is simply ridiculous to believe that tigers die in this manner. There is no reason to believe that that particular incident was an isolated coincident. There could be more cases,” Yonjan said.

He also said it is very rare to find the carcasses of tigers since a tiger carcass is as valuable as a live beast.

This is not so in the case of rhinos since poachers kill them for their horns.

Tigers can suffer in number if their prey base and habitat suffers. “Of course, one is free to speculate. But there is no room to believe so early on that the number of cats could have gone down. We have not yet found any trace of the number of tigers going down,” said Jhamak Bahadur Karki, a DNPWC conservation official.

Rhino census had found their number going down to 372 from 544 between 2000 and 2005, which is a fall by 31 per cent.

Census had attributed 94 deaths to poaching and rest to predation, intra-species fight, and aging.