From 121 to 429: Nepal's tiger comeback hits a new high

Nepal's National Tiger Census, released on Global Tiger Day 2026, counted 429 wild tigers — up from 355 in 2022 and nearly four times the 121 recorded in 2009, the year the count began. Surveyors identified individuals by their unique stripes using 3,696 camera traps across five protected areas, with the biggest jump in Parsa, up from 41 to 71.