By IANS,
Kathmandu : Nepal Sunday reported an increase in the number of its tigers.
According to the latest census report released on the occasion of World Tiger Day Sunday, Nepal has 176 tigers, 21 more than the previous official count.
The 2010 census found 155 tigers, Xinhua reported.
Nepal is among the 13 tiger range countries.
The World Wide Fund for Nature WWF), an international NGO, has urged the governments to raise efforts to curb poaching, a major threat to wild tigers.
India is home to most of the world’s wild tigers, with about 1,700 animals.
At the start of the 20th century, the number of wild tigers around the world was estimated at over 100,000. Currently, there are less than 3,500 tigers in the wild.
Poaching and deforestation have been major threats to the tigers’ survival.