Nepal uses satellites to track rare tiger

January 24, 2011

The tiger, named Namobuddha by park authorities, has been fitted with a special collar carrying a GPS tracking system

Enlarge

This handout photo released by the World Wide Fund (WWF) Nepal on January 23, shows a collar-fitted wild tiger making its way into the forest after it was released at Bardia National Park. An injured wild tiger that strayed into a tourist resort in Nepal has been moved to a new home in the jungle and fitted with a satellite collar so its progress can be tracked, the government said.

An injured wild tiger that strayed into a tourist resort in Nepal has been moved to a new home in the jungle and fitted with a satellite collar so its progress can be tracked, the government said.

The tiger, an adult male, was captured after it wandered into the resort on the outskirts of the Chitwan national park in southern Nepal, a major tourist attraction, and nursed back to health by park authorities.

It was then driven about 600 kilometres (400 miles) with a team of vets and conservationists in a specially constructed trailer to the remote jungles of Bardia in western Nepal, where it was released on Saturday.

The tiger, named Namobuddha by park authorities, has been fitted with a special collar carrying a GPS tracking system that will allow scientists to monitor how well it adapts to its new home.

The government said the initiative, carried out with the help of experts from WWF, would also help to improve understanding of how the behave in the wild.

"This translocation -- the first of its kind in Nepal -- is a concrete example of our commitment to saving wild tigers using the best science available," said Deepak Bohara, minister of forest and soil conservation.

The project is part of Nepal's efforts to double its population of Royal Bengal tigers, which once roamed the country's southern plains in large numbers but have been depleted by poaching and the destruction of their habitat.

A WWF survey carried out in 2008 found just 121 adult tigers of breeding age in the country.

The tiger, an adult male, was captured after it wandered into the resort on the outskirts of the Chitwan national park
Enlarge

This handout photo released by the World Wide Fund (WWF) Nepal on January 23, shows a wild tiger being transferred to its cage after it was collared before translocation to Bardia National Park. An injured wild tiger that strayed into a tourist resort in Nepal has been moved to a new home in the jungle and fitted with a satellite collar so its progress can be tracked, the government said.

Krishna Acharya, Nepal's head of national parks and wildlife conservation, said Bardia was an ideal home for the animal because it of its vast size, available prey and relatively low levels of poaching.

"Nepal is one of the countries in the world where the prospect of doubling the is quite good, if tigers are given enough space, prey and proper protection," he added.

Experts say poverty and political instability in Nepal have created ideal conditions for poachers who kill the animals for their skin, meat and bones, which are highly valued in Chinese traditional medicine.

The WWF says tigers are in serious danger of becoming extinct in the wild. During the last 100 years their numbers have collapsed by 95 percent, from 100,000 in 1900 to only around 3,200 , its says.

(c) 2011 AFP


Rank not rated yet
Relevant PhysicsForums posts

More news stories

Thousands of shellfish found dead in Peru

Thousands of crustaceans were found dead off the coast of Lima following the mystery mass death of dolphins and pelicans, the Peruvian Navy said Friday.

Biology / Ecology

created 8 hours ago | popularity 4.7 / 5 (3) | comments 4

It's in the genes: Research pinpoints how plants know when to flower

Scientists believe they've pinpointed the last crucial piece of the 80-year-old puzzle of how plants "know" when to flower.

Biology / Biotechnology

created 23 hours ago | popularity 3.9 / 5 (8) | comments 1 | with audio podcast

More plant species responding to global warming than previously thought

(Phys.org) -- Far more wild plant species may be responding to global warming than previous large-scale estimates have suggested.

Biology / Ecology

created May 22, 2012 | popularity 4.6 / 5 (14) | comments 18 | with audio podcast

Totally rad: Scientists create rewritable digital data storage in DNA

(Phys.org) -- Scientists from Stanford's Department of Bioengineering have devised a method for repeatedly encoding, storing and erasing digital data within the DNA of living cells.

Biology / Biotechnology

created May 21, 2012 | popularity 4.9 / 5 (16) | comments 11 | with audio podcast

For monogamous sparrows, it doesn't pay to stray (but they do it anyway)

It's quite common for a female song sparrow to stray from her breeding partner and mate with the male next door, but a new study shows that sleeping around can be costly.

Biology / Plants & Animals

created May 22, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 7 | with audio podcast


SpotterRF debuts Radar Backpack Kit (w/ Video)

(Phys.org) -- SpotterRF has announced a special radar backpack kit designed to enhance situational awareness for soldiers on the ground. The company says its special radar is designed for warfighters as part ...

Australia hails surprise super-telescope decision

Australia has hailed a surprise decision giving it a role in a radio telescope project aimed at revolutionising astronomy, vowing to draw on its decades of experience in space science.

Astronomers seize last chance in lifetime for Venus Transit

Astronomers are gearing for one the rarest events in the Solar System: an alignment of Earth, Venus and the Sun that will not be seen for another 105 years.

SpaceX capsule has 'new car' smell, astronauts say

SpaceX's Dragon cargo vessel smells like a new car, said astronauts at the International Space Station after opening the hatches Saturday following the spacecraft's landmark mission to the orbiting lab.

Family history of Alzheimer's affects functional connectivity

(HealthDay) -- Cognitively normal individuals with a family history of late-onset Alzheimer's disease (AD) may display lower resting state functional connectivity in the default mode network (DMN) of the brain, ...

Astronauts enter world's 1st private supply ship

(AP) -- Space station astronauts floated into the Dragon on Saturday, a day after its heralded arrival as the world's first commercial supply ship.