The tiger – an endangered species

At the beginning of the 20th century, there were over 100,000 tigers living on our planet. Trophy hunting, poaching for skin and bones, and widespread habitat loss and fragmentation due to farming and human settlements have caused more than 90% of the global tiger population to become extinct. Today, there are an estimated 3,726 to 5,578 tigers left in the wild.

Nepal, a country committed to protecting its wild tiger population

Although tigers remain on the IUCN red list of threatened species, the latest figures confirm that the tiger population has stabilized and even increased in certain countries. This is the case for Nepal, whose wild tiger population has nearly tripled in the past 12 years. This success is a testament to the country’s commitment and conservation efforts to protect the species. Today, the country has 355 wild tigers as compared to the estimated 121 in 2009. Out of the 13 countries committed to doubling their wild tiger population, only Nepal has managed to achieve this goal by 2022.

Actions taken to protect tigers

One of the keys behind this success has been the government’s partnership with local communities living near tiger populations: coexistence with humans is a real challenge and essential to the success of the species’ conservation project. To reduce the impact on local communities, compensation schemes have been set up to replace livestock killed by tigers.  Support has also been provided to reduce reliance on resources, such as firewood collected from national parks.  And the national parks are now intensively monitored. This monitoring effort also benefits other threatened species such as rhinos, elephants and pangolins.

Nepal continues to implement its conservation actions on the ground with the indisputable challenge of ensuring the safety of local populations. (source : IUCN)