Nepal advances tiger protection with new sanctuary and early‑warning monitoring

The Nepali government is moving ahead with its first‑ever tiger sanctuary in Chitwan National Park. Planned on about 52 hectares at Devnagar, the facility will house 18‑20 “problematic” tigers—older, injured or human‑conflict individuals that cannot be released back into the wild. It is designed for eco‑tourism, featuring canopy bridges, observation towers and enclosed safari vehicles, and the project has been allocated NPR 30 million for the 2026‑27 fiscal year.

Separately, ZSL Nepal installed real‑time monitoring cameras near the southern fringe of Parsa National Park after reports of tiger movement toward villages. Within three weeks a camera captured a tigress with two cubs near a water source, confirming the presence of reproducing tigers in a high‑risk human‑wildlife interface just before the Dashain festival. Using stripe‑pattern identification, officials linked the female to a 2022 national tiger survey. The team then mapped overlap zones between the tiger’s range and local community activities to target rapid conflict‑prevention measures.