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Kathmandu Wednesday October 18, 2000 Kartik 02, 2057.
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A few errors
There are a few errors in the article
"Tigers photographed with camera trap" (October 2). It is stated that the camera
trapping project carried out in Royal Bardia National Park since 1997 was the first of its
kind in Nepal. This is not correct. The International Trust for Nature Conservation (ITNC)
has been systematically camera trapping in the western part of Royal Chitwan National Park
since 1995. In five trapping seasons from 1995 to 2000 a total of 513 photographs of 62
individual tigers including juveniles were obtained. The same Trailmaster units as those
described in your article were used. Incidentally the cameras are tripped by an infrared
beam, not an ultra violet one.
There are a total of about 100 adult
breeding resident tigers in the protected areas of Nepal (Suklaphanta Bardia Chitwan and
Parsa), and a handful outside the protected areas. A calculation derived from the number
of breeding adults would yield a very approximate total figure of 250 tigers including
cubs and sub-adults.
The article states that there are
4,000-7000 Royal Bengal Tigers in various nature reserves in South and Southeast Asia.
This is not correct. According to one estimate (Jackson 1999) there are 4,000-7000 tigers
in all of Asia. The same source estimates there are between 3,000 and 4,500 tigers
belonging to the subspecies Panthera tigris tigris (the 'Royal Bengal Tiger') found in
Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh and western Myanmar.
Charles McDougal
International Trust for Nature Conservation
C/o Tiger Tops, Lazimpat, Kathmandu |
