Tigers Forever: Nepal

Tigers Forever: Nepal

           By dr.Fourkan Ali

Parsa

Contiguous with Chitwan National Park to the east, the 499 km2 Parsa Wildlife Reserve comprises grasslands and sub-tropical dry forests and represents a prime tiger habitat. Yet Parsa has received limited conservation attention since its inception and with only seven tigers, does not support as many tigers as it potentially can. Poaching and human-wildlife conflicts are the major direct threats to tigers in this region and tiger monitoring and measures to address the threats are urgently needed. Parsa Wildlife Reserve lies within the 2,000 km2 Chitwan-Parsa tiger complex, a Level 1 Tiger Conservation Landscape, and is home to approximately 135 adult tigers. Chitwan is a success story for wildlife conservation in Nepal. Significant resources have been invested there, both by the government of Nepal and by national and international conservation groups. Nepali people have a long history of living with their wildlife, and local communities around Chitwan in particular have benefitted from eco-tourism revenues. The core areas of Chitwan and Parsa are strictly guarded by the Nepalese army who monitor human activity in and around the park. Tiger numbers there have held steady as a result of these efforts.

1.      In September 2014, Panthera will begin a partnership with ZSL -Nepal to implement Tigers Forever in Parsa Wildlife Reserve. To make our work effective, a strong alliance of partners, including the National Trust for Nature Conservation, with firm support of the Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation will be in place. Here, Panthera will provide technical and analytical expertise, hardware (V5 PantheraCam and V5W PoacherCam), and training in order to implement SMART, monitor tiger and tiger prey populations, and establish an effective Law Enforcement team.