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Nepal has been celebrated globally for tripling its tiger population in a decade – but Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli thinks the country may have been too successful.
“In such a small country, we have more than 350 tigers… We cannot have so many tigers and let them eat humans,” he said last month at an event to move into reviewed the results of the country’s COP29.
Tiger attacks caused nearly 40 deaths and 15 injuries between 2019 and 2023, according to government data. But local communities say the figure is much higher.
“For us, 150 tigers are enough,” Oli said in December, even suggesting that Nepal could send its precious big cats to other countries as gifts.
How many tigers are too many?
There’s no single answer, experts say. It depends on the availability of prey in a given area: ideally, each tiger should be in close proximity to around 500 prey, such as deer, antelope or wild buffalo, says tiger biologist Ullas Karanth.
Experts say Oli’s concern about capping tiger numbers is misplaced. The Nepalese government should instead focus on “expanding protected areas with reasonable natural densities of prey and tigers”, adds Dr Karanth.
If wildlife is moving out of protected areas in search of prey, that could explain why so many attacks have occurred in forest border locations, where tigers have historically encountered humans.
An example is “buffer zones” located between national parks and human settlements. Wildlife sightings are common here, but locals also use the area for grazing livestock and collecting fodder and firewood.
Forest corridors – strips of land that connect different parks and biological reserves allowing wildlife to move between them – have become another hot spot. Roads sometimes pass through these areas, and residents also use them for food, making them vulnerable to attacks.
The rising number of human deaths is a sign that Nepal’s once-effective conservation model is cracking, says zoologist Karan Shah.
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“So far, (Nepal) seems to focus on international attention, while ignoring the impact on communities living around national parks and protected areas,” adds Shah.
It asserts that conservation is not just “an ecological or scientific issue” but also a social issue – and that the loss of human life must be avoided so that local communities remain an integral part of the conservation effort and do not not turn against him. Residents’ anger has also increased as the tigers attack livestock.
“A significant portion of our population still lives in rural areas and depends on the forest resources they help to conserve – but they are now increasingly being killed and injured by tigers,” said Thakur Bhandari, president of the Federation community forest users in Nepal. BBC.
“As forest conservationists, we cannot stand against wildlife, but that does not mean we should ignore its impact on humans and our society.”
A success story turned deadly
A century ago, some 100,000 tigers roamed Asia, but deforestation and rampant poaching pushed them to the brink of extinction. There are only about 5,600 wild tigers left in 13 countries, including Nepal, China, India, Thailand, Indonesia and Russia.
All of these countries had committed to doubling their tiger numbers by 2022, but Nepal was the first to exceed that target, thanks in part to a zero-poaching initiative and the doubling of the country’s forest cover between 1992 and 2016.
Connecting 16 protected areas in southern Nepal with border areas in northern India created forest corridors that were also useful.
The increasing number of tiger attacks is now tarnishing this achievement.
Oli believes that Nepal’s tiger population is increasing at the cost of human lives. However, it is not easy to find viable solutions.
The parks and wildlife department has recognized the challenge of managing tigers in Nepal, where those who kill humans are hunted down and taken into captivity.
“Zoos and rescue centers are already overwhelmed with problem tigers,” the department said in a conservation report released in 2023. “A comprehensive protocol is urgently needed to address rescue, handling and for the rehabilitation of problem animals.
Ullas Karanth
Tiger biologist Ullas Karanth says focus should be on expanding protected areas for Nepal’s big cats
Oli proposed sending Nepal’s tigers abroad.
“People like to keep birds like hawks and peacocks as pets, so why not tigers?” he suggested. “It would also boost their status.”
Others have different ideas.
Dr Karanth says tigers that have repeatedly killed humans should be “killed immediately”. Some say humans have exacerbated the problem by encroaching on tigers’ natural habitats, using land for farming or infrastructure, and reducing the big cats’ prey base.
The BBC has meanwhile spoken to a wildlife management expert, who says Oli wants to reduce tiger numbers so that more land can be cleared to build infrastructure.
“It’s not about people’s safety,” he said.
For the moment, the situation is at an impasse. It is unclear whether Oli’s suggestion of “tiger diplomacy” will gain traction, or whether over-encroachment by humans or tigers is to blame for Nepal’s tiger attack crisis.
What is clear is that humans and tigers are struggling to achieve peaceful coexistence in Nepal – and the country’s conservation success has led to a reckoning with many of its own thorny issues.
