CHITWAN: Seven cameras installed for the ongoing tiger census in Chitwan National Park have been damaged. Of these, five cameras were lost, while two were broken by elephants.
According to Abinash Thapa Magar, Information Officer at the park, three cameras installed for the census went missing in the Thumsi area, while two were lost in Tamaspur. Additionally, two cameras installed in the Tiger Tops area were damaged by elephants. The tiger census is being conducted using camera traps installed across approximately 286 grids.
Magar said that some cameras were lost or damaged by elephants while being retrieved after the completion of the first phase of the census. The tiger census is being carried out by forming a joint block of Chitwan and Parsa National Parks. The first phase covered areas from Barandabhar to Triveni, including Amaltari and Kasara.
Work on the second phase of the tiger census has now begun. Under this phase, 13 camps have been established and enumerators have been deployed. Cameras have been installed in areas ranging from Sauraha and Khagendramalli to Lothar, Pratapur, Harda, Bote Simara, Swameshwor, Bagai, Ambuwa, and Shikari Bas.
For the second phase, the census has been divided into 336 grids, with 150 enumerators deployed. According to Thapa, tigers will be monitored for two weeks in each section using camera traps.
Overall, tiger counting in the Chitwan–Parsa block is being conducted across 958 grids. Previously, the 2022 tiger census recorded 355 adult tigers in Nepal. Of these, 128 were found in Chitwan, 125 in Bardiya National Park, 25 in Banke National Park, 41 in Parsa, and 36 in Shuklaphanta National Park.
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