Jan 29, Kathmandu - The work of installing cameras for tiger census in the third block of the Chitwan-Parsa Complex has started from Thursday.

This information was given at the coordination meeting of the technical committee held at the Parsa National Park office in Adhabhar on Thursday.

In the meeting, Haribhadra Acharya, senior ecologist at the Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation, said that after completing the census in the first and second blocks of the Chitwan-Parsa Complex, the work of installing cameras for the census has started in the third block from Thursday.

He said that the tiger census in this complex has started from December 1 and the work of the third block has started after 40 days, at an average rate of 20 days in each block. “The target is to complete the census in all three blocks in two months at a rate of 20 days in each block,” he said. “The work of installing cameras simultaneously in some areas under the Parsa National Park office, West and East, Parsa, Bara and Makawanpur Divisional Forest Offices has been started.”

The ‘camera trap method’ used in 2009-2010 during the tiger census is still being used. This time, the scope of the park and the large forest area outside the park where tigers were found has been covered for the census, he said.

Twelve camps have been set up to install cameras for the tiger census. The 12 camps have been set up in Shitalpur, Bhatha, Mahadevpatti, Amlekhgunj, Churiyamai, Ratomate, Sahajnath, Nijgadh, Chapur, Tamagadhi and Ghodemsan.

There are only two camps in Bhatha and 1 each in all other places. Acharya said that a total of 84 people have been deployed for this work, with a technical team of 7 people in all the camps.

A pair of cameras is being installed in every two square kilometers of forest for the tiger census. 656 cameras at the rate of 328 pairs are being used for the tiger census. They will be installed at a height of 40 to 60 centimeters from the ground and at a distance of 6 to 8 meters. Since these cameras will cover the entire block at the same time, the cameras will be deployed in two batches, i.e. 1,204 times, Acharya said.

Chitwan National Park Chief Conservation Officer Dr. Ganesh Pant said that the tiger census, which is conducted every four years, was conducted this year with the support of the Wildlife Department, National Trust for Nature Conservation, WWF Nepal and ZSL Nepal and in collaboration with stakeholders including the Nepal Army, Nepal Police, Division Forest Office and others.

Ramchandra Khatiwada, Senior Conservation Officer of Parsa National Park, said that in the census four years ago, a total of 355 adult tigers were counted across Nepal, including 41 in Parsa National Park, 128 in Chitwan National Park, and 125 in Bardiya National Park. He said that it is impossible to predict the number of tigers ahead of this census.

Hemraj Acharya, Conservation Officer of Chitwan National Park, said that two dozen cameras, eight in the first block and 16 in the second block, have been destroyed by wild elephants during the tiger census in the Chitwan-Parsa complex so far. He also said that some cameras were lost during the process.