Kathmandu: Nepal began a nationwide census of the Royal Bengal Tiger on Tuesday to determine the population of the big cat, whose numbers have been rising recently, a senior official said. The tiger counting, which began in Chitwan National Park, will cover all major habitats of the endangered species.

According to Namibia Press Agency, as many as 1,200 automated camera traps and 250 experts and researchers have been mobilized for the census, Bed Kumar Dhakal, spokesperson at the Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation, told Xinhua. A pair of cameras will be placed in every two-square-kilometer area for 15 days. Dhakal noted that it will take three months to capture the images, which will be analyzed afterwards to identify the tigers.

The previous census in 2021, published in 2022, showed that Nepal's tiger population increased by 51 percent to 335 compared to the previous count.