CHITWAN, Oct 28: Government is set to conduct tiger and rhino census in major naitonal parks in Parsa, Chitwan, Banke, Bardiya, from mid-December.
Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation (DNPWC) which will conduct the tiger census as mjor goal will also utilize the counting method to record the numbers of one horned Rhinocerous in Nepal this time.
The Rhino census was postponed last fiscal year (2024–25) after donors withdrew their financial support at the last moment.
The tiger census is conducted every four years in Nepal. According to the DNPWC's senior ecologist Haribhadra Acharya, the upcoming census will run for three months, starting in December–January.
Although the Department has planned to carry out the rhino census in March–April 2026, it is reconsidering the schedule as it coincides with the national elections announced for March 5, 2026.
The rhino census will be conducted in Chitwan, Parsa, Shuklaphanta, and Koshi Tappu National Parks. The Department has allocated Rs 1.8 million for the tiger census, though the total cost is expected to exceed Rs 15 million. Likewise, Rs 1.8 million has been allocated for the rhino census, which is estimated to cost over Rs 10 million.
The remaining funds will be sought from donors, officials said. Nepal recorded a total of 335 tigers: 128 in Chitwan, 125 in Bardiya, 25 in Banke, 41 in Parsa, and 36 in Shuklaphanta according to the previous tiger census conducted in 2022.
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