Kathmandu: Nepal has officially joined the International Big Cat Alliance (IBCA), an India-led global initiative to protect seven species of big cats.
IBCA is a multi-country, multi-agency coalition of over 90 big cat range countries and non-range countries with an interest in big cat conservation.
“Nepal has formally joined the International Big Cat Alliance (IBCA) by signing the Framework Agreement,” announced the IBCA Saturday.
“With snow leopard, tiger and common leopard in its landscape, Nepal’s joining the IBCA will strengthen global collaboration for big cat conservation,” the IBCA said.
The IBCA has “congratulated the Government of Nepal for this significant step towards shared ecologically significant step towards shared ecological security.”
Nepal succeeded in almost tripling its tiger population to 355 in 2022 (the latest census carried out so far) from a mere 121 in 2009.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the International Big Cat Alliance (IBCA) for global conservation of seven big cats, namely the Tiger, Lion, Leopard, Snow Leopard, Cheetah, Jaguar and Puma April 09, 2023, in Mysuru, Karnataka.
India has a long-standing experience on the tiger agenda and exemplary conservation models for other big cats like the lion, snow leopard and leopard.
With the help of this platform, Big Cat Range Countries can share their experiences and mobilise resources in order to find solutions to conserve big cats.
PTI
