The strategy adopted by WWF and the Bhutan government offers hope for the future of the global tiger population.

Experts have said that in 15 to 20 years time there will be at least 115 tigers in the world and they will all be in Bhutan.

Policies adopted by the government have led to a reduction in the loss of tiger habitat and evidence of tigers in almost all of Bhutan’s national parks.

“Danger to tigers in Bhutan is limited to a few retaliatory killings by herders through poisoning of carcasses,” said Sonam Wangchuk, head of the Species Conservation and Monitoring Section.

Evidence of tigers has even been found in high altitude biospheres, including at 4,050 metres in Jigme Dorji National Park.

Bhutan recently took part in the first Asian Ministerial Conference (AMC) for tiger conservation in Bangkok. The Minister of Agriculture and Forests told the conference that Bhutan’s priorities were ensuring the integrity of tiger habitat, cooperating with neighboring countries and ensuring sustainable funding.

The country began to take steps towards systematic tiger conservation in 1995 with the Forests and Nature Conservation Act, which declared 29 species of plants and wildlife – including the tiger – ‘totally protected’. This was closely followed by the forming of a partnership with WWF to develop the tiger conservation strategy.

Key to the strategy was a shift from in focus from the southern to the central Himalayan forests. These areas, particularly Thrumshing La National Park in Bumthang district, have been identified as the most crucial tiger habitat in the country.

The global tiger population has fallen dramatically from 100,000 a hundred years ago, and tiger habitat has declined by 40 per cent in the past decade alone.

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