Himal Press 
KATHMANDU: The government is planning to build a tiger sanctuary in Chitwan to house problematic and injured tigers in a more natural environment.
Minister for Agriculture, Forests and Environment, Gita Chaudhary, who is currently in Chitwan to attend the general convention of the Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP), inspected the proposed site for the tiger sanctuary in Devnagar.
The government is moving ahead with plans to establish a sanctuary that will spread over 50 hectares to house problematic and injured tigers currently being kept in enclosures across the country. It believes the sanctuary will reduce the rising costs of captive management while boosting ecotourism.
On the occasion, she received briefings on biodiversity conservation, management of problematic wildlife, scientific research and measures to mitigate human-wildlife conflict. She told officials that the government was committed to promoting coexistence between people and wildlife and said all necessary measures would be pursued to address growing conservation challenges.
With the cost of maintaining more than a dozen problematic tigers in captivity rising, the proposed sanctuary is expected to provide a more natural habitat for the animals while also supporting eco-tourism, according to the minister.
Chaudhary also visited the Armed Forest Guard Training Centre in Tikoli. During the visit, she emphasized the need to strengthen the capacity of forest guards, improve infrastructure and modernize training programs to combat wildlife crime effectively.
She also toured the National Trust for Nature Conservation’s wildlife genomics laboratory in Chitwan and interacted with the local community.
