Captured tigers dying in captivity

By Basanta Parajuli,Narayangadh, May 21: A tiger kept captive near Sauraha in Chitwan died on Sunday. The 10-year-old tiger, which had become a problem after eating two people, had been kept in a cage by Chitwan National Park for past six months. 

According to Ganesh Prasad Tiwari, Information Officer of the Chitwan National Park (CNP), the female tiger suddenly fell ill on Saturday morning and died on Sunday night. The tiger had been detained since November 26, 2023, after it killed two people in Kashghari near Lothar in the eastern part of the park.

Earlier, three tigers in the Parsa National Park had died in a cage. There are statistics that three tigers died in the park from October 12, 2023, to March 29, 2024.

According to the information officer of the Parsa National Park, Santosh Bhagat, the tiger that died on February 24 was caged for about a year after it was taken under control from Swarnapur of Thori on April 5, 2023. 

Nepal had promised to double the number of tigers by 2022 at the conference held in St. Petersburg, Russia, in 2010. 

According to the same commitment, in the year 2022, the number of tigers in Nepal reached 355. As of 2010, the number of tigers in Nepal was 121.

Despite the increase in the number of tigers, the number of problematic tigers has also increased in recent times. It is said that if they cannot find proper habitat, they die. 

Tigers that are old, injured, and unable to feed, and those that come to human settlements and cause harm by attacking people and animals, are considered problematic. 

Chief Conservation Officer of Chitwan National Park, Dil Bahadur Purja Pun, stated that up to 5 per cent of tigers in the park were considered problematic.

Wildlife expert Dr. Baburam Lamichhane responded that captive tigers die of suffocation after they are not allowed to roam freely and hunt as they do in nature. "We have not been able to construct a cage with facilities to accommodate problematic tigers," he said. 

"When tigers that roam freely in the forest are taken under control and kept confined, they become stressed and eventually die."

According to the 2022 census, there are 355 tigers in Nepal. Chitwan, Bardiya, and the Central Zoo have kept 14 tigers in captivity. 

Specifically, there are four tigers in captivity in Chitwan, two in the rescue centre of the Barandabhar forest area, one in Kasara (the headquarters of Chitwan National Park), and one in Sauraha.