Mar 24, Kathmandu- As the number of tigers in Nepal increases, it is seen that their habitat needs to be increased. Although national parks, buffer zones, and other forest areas are the habitats of tigers, the problem of habitat has also increased as the number of tigers has increased.

At an interaction program organized by the Chitwan National Park here, Haribhadra Acharya, senior ecologist at the Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation, said that there is a need to increase the habitat for tigers. He said that since the number of tigers has been increasing in the past five years, there is a need to increase the habitat as well.

He said, "It is necessary to protect the ferocious tigers by making them open zoos. By making them open zoos, it can be linked to income generation."

The number of tigers in Nepal has increased from 121 in 2009 to 355 in 2022. The number of tigers was 198 in 2013 and 253 in 2018. Acharya said that as the number of tigers increased, the habitat area has decreased by 93 percent. He informed that while there were around 100,000 tigers in the world a hundred years ago, this number has now decreased to 5,000. In recent years, attention has been paid to the conservation of tigers, their number is increasing.

Acharya said that around 500 tigers can be kept in the forest area of ​​Nepal. He said, 'It seems that 404 tigers can be kept in the core area of ​​the park". Since the main food of the tiger is deer, it is necessary to protect it as well. Along with deer, monkeys and domestic animals are also the food of the tiger, it was informed on the occasion.