KATHMANDU: The Nepal government has set as a goal by 2022 to double its local tiger population, the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) said in a report published on Sunday The report, published on Global Tiger Day, revealed that over the past year, the tiger population in the country has increased from 155 to 177. The majority of Nepal's tigers call the Chitwan National Park in the southern central area of the country close to the Indian border, but other do live in the Bardia National Park, Shukkaphata Wildlife Reserve and the Parsa Wildlife Reserve. Krishna Prasad Acharya, director general of Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation, said that Nepal is fully committed to tiger protection and to double the number of the endangered species in ten years. “Poaching has been one of the challenges of tiger protection in Nepal and we have been pushing forward to control wildlife trade and will strictly enforce anti-poaching rules and regulations,” he told reporters. Over the last three years, Nepal has created a number of anti-poaching units in its national parks across the country to protect wildlife, particularly animals that are in danger of extinction. The move has been praised by wildlife organizations, including the WWF. The government has also increased areas designated as natural habitats for tigers and encouraged Nepalis to protect not only the tigers, but all wild animals within the national parks.
