Tourists increase in BNP to watch tigers

By Siraj Khan,Nepalgunj, May 31: The number of domestic and foreign tourists visiting Bardiya National Park has significantly increased due to the easy spotting of Bengal tigers and other wildlife.

The park has seen a notable rise in tourists coming to view Bengal tigers, leopards, elephants, deer and swamp deer. 

With the tiger population in the park now at 125, the number of tourists, both local and international, has surged, said Dr. Ashok Kumar Ram, Chief Conservation Officer of Bardiya National Park (BNP).

He said that around 90 per cent of tourists visiting the park now get to see Bengal tigers, which has significantly boosted the park's popularity. 

By the end of the last fiscal year, 2,000 foreign tourists visited the park. This number doubled to 4,000 by the end of the current fiscal year, according to Dr. Ram. 

Similarly, 6,000 domestic tourists visited the park by the end of the last fiscal year, compared to 10,000 during the same period this fiscal year. Similarly, the number of tourists from SAARC countries increased from 500 to 800 within the same timeframe.

Dr. Ram said, “We believe that around 20,000 tourists will visit the park this year, primarily due to the increased number of Bengal tigers and the chance to see them up close.”

Tourists from countries like the United States, Germany, France, New Zealand, China and India have especially visited BNP, with US tourists being the most prominent group.

According to the latest tiger census, out of the 355 Bengal tigers in Nepal, 125 are in BNP. Chitwan National Park has the highest number of tigers at 128, followed by Parsa National Park with 41, Shuklaphanta National Park with 36, and Banke National Park with 25 tigers.