The tiger census in the Chitwan–Parsa complex has been completed, officials said.

Hemraj Acharya, conservation officer at Chitwan National Park, said cameras installed three weeks ago in the third block were removed on Thursday. The census began on December 16, with the complex divided into three blocks.

In the final phase, cameras were installed simultaneously in areas under Parsa National Park and in western and eastern sectors of Parsa, Bara and Makawanpur division forest offices.

The camera trap method was used for the count. This year, the survey covered both protected areas and large forest tracts outside the parks where tigers have been recorded.

Twelve camps were set up to install cameras at Shitalpur, Bhatha, Mahadev Patti, Amlekhgunj, Churiyamai, Ratomate, Sahajnath, Nijgadh, Chapur, Tamagadhi and Ghodemasan. Two camps were based in Bhatha, and one each at the other sites. Each camp had a seven-member technical team, with around 84 personnel mobilised.

A pair of cameras was installed every two square kilometres, with around 600 cameras used. The devices were placed 40 to 60 centimetres above the ground, 6 to 8 metres apart. As a single round could not cover all blocks at once, cameras were deployed in two phases.

The four-yearly census was conducted with support from the Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation, National Trust for Nature Conservation, WWF Nepal and ZSL Nepal, in coordination with the Nepali Army, Nepal Police and division forest offices.

In the previous census four years ago, 41 adult tigers were recorded in Parsa National Park, 128 in Chitwan National Park and 125 in Bardiya National Park, bringing the nationwide total to 355.

Acharya said there was less damage to cameras this time compared to the previous census. Cameras retrieved from the Chitwan–Parsa complex will now be used in the final phase of the census in the Shuklaphanta–Laljhadi complex.