it is magnificent to see a male tiger walking along here, one of over 100 tigers now here in bardiya national park, part of a growing tiger population here in nepal. it is definitely something to be celebrated, because, as we know, everywhere around the world, the conservation stories that we often get to read are loudly depressing, and the number of species we are losing on a daily basis even, the habitat loss that we see every day. and nepal brings a freshness in the arena of conservation. music and chanting they have participated in this, they have rejoiced the success as well, and they are paying with their
this whole area used to be a royal hunting ground. newsreel: this is a land whose people have always lived underl the menace of marauding tigers. when queen elizabeth visited the country in 1961, she took part in a tiger hunt. newsreel: and, yes, there was a tiger. - king mahendra had fulfilled a time honoured obligation of a host in nepal and provided the royal party with a tiger to shoot. but there was more hunting to come. the next prey was a rhino. the rhino was also killed. hunting, poaching, and habitat loss has pushed tigers towards extinction. and that was the end of another animal. since the beginning of the 20th century, their numbers globally have dropped by more than 95%.
180 water ponds here. 50 water pond is with solar. is there a chance that with these interventions that you re pushing the tiger population beyond what s sustainable for the size of the park? no. we are creating many water pond and grassland, particularly for the prey species and the tiger. we have sufficient space and prey density in the park, so we are managing the tigers in a sustainable way. that evening we see signs of the return of the tiger close to where we re sleeping. just behind our camp, fresh tiger footprints have been found in the sand here. we think they are from an adult female tiger we saw a lot of deer last night on the grassland and there s water here, so the footprints
for the soldiers, the challenge is to keep the peace. we are the mediators, so it s our duty to bring peace between two species. and so, it s both i would say the protection of the tiger is our responsibility, but at the same time, protection of civilians is also our main responsibility.
it is oh my god, what a majestic creature is that? ! and the otherfeeling is oh my god, am i dead? so, that s the type of feeling you get when you encounter when you encounter a tiger. so, being assigned in the protection duties, it s an honour. it s a privilege to be part of something that is really big, you know. so, what are you looking for on this patrol? i mean, like, we re looking for any illegal encroachment of people or domestic animals. these are the basic things that we look at while we re on patrol. do you have the power to shoot? only only if we have any life threatening encounters with the wild animals or it is the poachers. but that is the last resort. that is the last thing we would want to do. just outside the national park, indigenous leader bhadai tharu patrols his community forest. it s part of a key corridor that allows tigers to move between protected areas in nepal and neighbouring