In November 2013, for a tiger-conservation programme in Nepal’s Terai Arc Landscape, the Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation awarded $3 million to WWF . The objective was to help the country double its wild tiger population by 2022 from its 2009 baseline estimate of 121 tigers. The grant was designed to strengthen anti-poaching patrols, protect core breeding areas, restore wildlife corridors and improve tiger monitoring. Nearly a decade later, Nepal’s national tiger survey estimated 355 wild tigers in 2022, compared with 121 in the country’s 2009 nationwide estimate. The increase was larger than the tiger estimate that would have represented a doubling of the original population.
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