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| Nepal's tiger population has remained
stable |
With the specific objectives of: 1) estimating
population of tiger and their prey in Parsa Wildlife Reserve,
Chitwan National Park, Bardia National Park and Suklaphanta
Wildlife Reserve, 2) assessing tiger distribution both inside
and outside of the PAs, 3) developing database system for
tiger conservation in the Terai Arc Landscape of Nepal, and
4) Capacity building on technical skills and scientific knowledge
of tiger monitoring, Department of national Parks and Wildlife
Conservation in associaltion with Department of Forests, National
Trust for Nature Conservation and WWF Nepal conducted tiger
and their prey base survey which followed three contemporary
approaches of assessing animal abundance and distribution:
1. Camera trap surveys to estimate tiger populations in Parsa
WR, Chitwan NP, Bardia NP and Suklaphanta WR,
2. Line transect surveys to assess the prey abundance in the
Pas, and
3. Habitat occupancy modelling to examine the tiger distribution
patterns both inside and outside of the PAs.
Camera trap surveys were undertaken from December 2008 to
March 2009 by systematically placing 150 pairs of passive
cameras in designated blocks in all four PAs. With a total
sampling effort of 10,305 trap nights in four PAs, a total
of 86 individual tigers (Parsa WR - 4, Chitwan NP - 59, Bardia
NP - 16 and Suklaphanta WR - 7) on the basis of their unique
stripe pattern on the body flanks, legs, face and tail were
identified. Using closed capture-recapture sampling framework
as provided by Program Capture, a total of 121 adult tigers
were estimated (i.e., excluding cubs and juveniles) in four
PAs.
| Protected Area |
Estimated No. of Tiger |
Confidence Interval |
Tiger density/100sq.km |
| Suklaphanta Wildlife Reserve |
8 |
8-14 |
3.23 |
| Bardia National Park |
18 |
17-29 |
1.76 |
| Chitwan National Park |
91 |
71-144 |
8.08 |
| Parsa Wildlife Reserve |
4 |
4-4 |
0.72 |
| Total breeding adults |
121 |
100-194 |
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The abundance of tiger wild prey animals were estimated by
employing line transects surveys within the Distance Sampling
framework. The field work was conducted during May - June
2008. A total of 463 transects were systematically surveyed
for wild prey animals.
| Protected Area |
Wild Prey |
Density |
Abundance |
| |
|
No./km2 |
95% CI |
Animals |
95% CI |
| Parsa WR |
All |
5.5 |
3.5 - 8.7 |
1334 |
841 - 2114 |
| Chitwan NP |
All |
62.6 |
49.3 - 79.5 |
38,319 |
30,165 - 48,678 |
| |
Chital |
43.9 |
27.5 - 70.0 |
26,849 |
26,849 |
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Samber |
7.5 |
5.0 - 11.2 |
4,567 |
3,044 - 6853 |
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Wild boar |
4.2 |
2.9 - 6.2 |
2,573 |
1,742 - 3,801 |
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Barking deer |
3.7 |
2.6 - 5.2 |
2,265 |
1,618 - 3,170 |
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Hog deer |
5.1 |
3.5 - 7.6 |
3,143 |
2,134 - 4,631 |
| Bardia NP |
All |
67.8 |
51.6 - 89.2 |
22,124 |
16,831 - 29,082 |
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Chital |
55.4 |
40.5 - 75.8 |
18,053 |
13,191 - 24,708 |
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Wild boar |
4.0 |
2.3 - 7.1 |
1,310 |
738 - 2,325 |
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Barking deer |
1.3 |
0.8 - 2.0 |
421 |
271- 654 |
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Samber |
2.4 |
1.6 - 3.8 |
794 |
505 - 1,248 |
| Suklaphanta WR |
All |
86.2 |
61.5 - 120.8 |
16,994 |
12,128 - 23,811 |
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Chital |
54.1 |
32.5 - 90.1 |
10,665 |
6,406 - 17,755 |
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Hog deer |
16.3 |
11.0 - 23.8 |
3,187 |
2,169 - 4,682 |
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Swamp deer |
21.5 |
8.5 - 54.4 |
4,246 |
1,682 - 10,720 |
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