In Bardiya district, tucked along Nepal's southern border with India, 112 tigers now prowl through tall grasslands — up from just 18 in 2009. That dramatic recovery reflects a national trend that has made Nepal a beacon for wildlife conservation worldwide.
Nepal's wild tiger population has climbed to an estimated 429, according to a new government survey announced on International Tiger Day. That represents a 20 percent jump from 355 tigers counted in 2022, and a five percent increase each year. The numbers reinforce Nepal's reputation as a rare success story in the global fight to save big cats from extinction.
The reason for the turnaround, conservationists say, is straightforward: protecting habitat works. "The reason behind the increasing number of tigers is because we could keep their habitat secure," said Hari Bhadra Acharya, an ecologist with Nepal's Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation.
The latest survey, conducted between December and July, covered more than 7,300 square kilometers of Nepal's southern plains. Wildlife teams deployed over 3,600 motion-sensitive cameras across five protected areas, capturing thousands of images of tigers. Scientists identified individual animals the way you might recognize a person by their fingerprints — by analyzing the unique stripe patterns on each tiger's coat.
In 2010, Nepal joined twelve other countries in making a ambitious promise: double the number of wild tigers by 2022. It became the first nation on Earth to meet that goal. The population has grown from roughly 121 tigers in 2009 to 429 today.
But the triumph comes with complications. As tiger numbers rise, some communities living near tiger habitat face greater danger. Government records show at least 38 people were killed in tiger attacks between 2019 and 2023. "The local communities played a crucial role in increasing the tiger numbers, but the government and organizations are not taking action when the tigers are attacking the same communities," said Nischal Neupane, a victim advocate in Bardiya.
Ghana Shyam Gurung of WWF Nepal said the challenge now is making sure both people and wildlife can thrive together. "By investing in effective co-existence programs, Nepal can continue to offer a powerful model for other tiger range countries."
The global picture offers context for just how remarkable Nepal's achievement is. A century ago, more than 100,000 tigers roamed the wild. By 2010, that number had plummeted to roughly 3,200 across Asia. Nepal's turnaround shows that when governments, communities, and conservation groups work together, endangered species can recover — and offers hope that other countries might follow the same path.
The cameras are still watching the grasslands of Bardiya, and the tigers keep coming back.