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 on 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 to almost triple 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 Tiger, Lion, Leopard, Snow Leopard, Cheetah, Jaguar, and Puma on April 09, 2023, in Mysuru, Karnataka.

India has a long-standing experience on tiger agenda and exemplary conservation models for other big cats like lion, snow leopard, and leopard.

With the help of this platform Big Cat Range Countries can share their experiences and mobilize resources in order to find solutions to conserve big cats.