July 28, 2009--Captured by a camera trap on January 16, 2009, a Bengal tiger prowls western Nepal's Shuklaphanta Wildlife Reserve.
The rare cat is one of at least 121 breeding tigers that may roam the country's preserved wilderness, according to results from the first ever nationwide survey of the rare cat, released yesterday.
A 1995-to-1996 tiger census had measured three known isolated tiger populations in Nepal and had found about 95 breeding animals, according to Nepal's Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation.To get a more reliable estimate, in November 2008 surveyors set up camera traps in the mountainous South Asian country's four major protected areas. (See a Nepal map.)
The discovery is heartening for conservationists struggling to save the Bengal tiger, according to WWF-Nepal. Tiger numbers have plummeted to fewer than about 2,500 animals in the wild, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), which lists the cats as endangered. Tigers have lost 93 percent of their historic range in Asia due to poaching, illegal trade, and human development, the IUCN says.
"The present numbers [are] a positive sign, but we can't remain unworried," Anil Manandhar, WWF-Nepal's country representative, said in a statement.
— Photograph courtesy WWF Nepal