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Royal Bengal tiger kills six people in Nepal - radio |
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| NEPAL: November 1, 2001 | ||
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KATHMANDU - A Royal Bengal tiger has killed six people in villages around a national park in southern Nepal over the past week, state radio reported.
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Radio Nepal said the Home (interior) Ministry had asked authorities to shoot the tiger, despite it being an endangered species, after the killing spree that also left four people wounded. "A tiger from Royal Chitaun National Park has been creating havoc in the past one week and killed six people," Radio Nepal said. Royal Chitaun National Park, about 150 km (90 miles) south of Kathmandu, is home to about 70 of the Himalayan kingdom's estimated tiger population of between 150 and 250. Experts say the world's Royal Bengal tiger population has dwindled to between 5,000 and 6,000 from an estimated 100,000 at the turn of the century. The tiger is on the brink of extinction because of poaching for their skin and bones, and habitat loss due to human encroachment. Nepali wildlife officials say a dead tiger is worth more than $100,000. Its bones are highly sought after in East Asia, where they are used in traditional medicine.
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REUTERS NEWS SERVICE
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