Nepal’s leader says it has too many tigers. Does it?

A century ago, some 100,000 tigers roamed Asia – but deforestation and rampant poaching pushed them to the brink of extinction. There are now only about 5,600 wild tigers remaining across 13 countries, including Nepal, China, India, Thailand, Indonesia and Russia.

All of these nations had committed to doubling their tiger numbers by 2022, but Nepal was the first to surpass the target – due in part to a zero-poaching initiative and a doubling of the country’s forest cover between 1992 and 2016.

Connecting 16 protected zones in southern Nepal with areas across the border in northern India created forest corridors which helped too.

The growing number of tiger attacks has now tarnished that achievement.

Oli believes Nepal’s tiger population is growing at the cost of human lives. Viable solutions, however, are not easy to come by.

The parks and wildlife department has acknowledged the challenge of managing tigers in Nepal, where those that kill humans are tracked down and taken into captivity.

“Zoos and rescue centres are already overwhelmed with problematic tigers,” the department said in a conservation report published in 2023. “A comprehensive protocol is urgently needed to cope with the rescue, handling, and rehabilitation of problem animals.”