Tiger Found Dead from Gunshot in Chitwan

On January 30th, 2022, news broke that an endangered Bengal tiger was found in Chitwan National Park, dead from a gunshot wound. Although this news surfaced on Facebook and Twitter that day, no news articles have emerged about the event. So the question is, why is nobody talking about this?

Constant reports surface with news of rhinos dying in the park; for example, a report came out this week about a two-year-old rhino killed by a tiger. However, when it comes to incidents in the park regarding the status of individual tigers, it is rarely reported in mainstream media. This is true of both human-tiger conflict and tiger conservation. Tigers are among the most endangered species residing in the park, but the least talked about regarding current events.

What Happened to the Tiger in Chitwan National Park?

The two reports that did surface about the incident on social media did not reveal the motive. It is unclear whether or not this can be linked back to poaching; however, the tiger was found completely intact, suggesting whoever did kill the tiger did not get away with any of its parts. This cannot rule out poaching, though, since the person could have gotten spooked by how loud the shot was or the looming threat of nearby park personnel.

An additional possibility is self-defense. This is less likely since most do not carry firearms in the national park. Even park guides only have sticks to defend against wildlife. Therefore, the likelihood of someone entering the park with a gun “just in case” is low.

With all of this said, it is almost impossible to know the true motive behind this killing since many aspects of tiger conservation in the country are kept very quiet, especially to foreigners.

The Future of Tiger Conservation in Nepal

With very little available information about what’s going on with the tiger population in Nepal, it’s hard to know the actual inner workings of the plan for their conservation. Although the tiger population has reportedly been growing steadily over the past few years, human-tiger conflict and poaching are issues that require careful and consistent monitoring. These threats are problematic for the species’ survival and the impacted local communities.

Although many communities that border tiger habitat are impacted by conflict, they also benefit from the tourism that comes to view wildlife like tigers. Hopefully, a balance can be found in the region by protecting the wildlife in Chitwan National Park while also implementing preventive measures for wildlife conflict. 

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