Faculty and Staff

Tshering Tempa, PhD

Tshering Tempa, PhD

Title
Lecturer in Mountain Ecology
Location
Bhutan
Education
Ph.D. Wildlife Biology
University Montana, Missoula (Montana, USA)
Master of Science in Wildlife Biology
University Montana, Missoula (Montana, USA)
Bachelor of Science in Forestry Sciences
University of Agricultural Sciences, Dharward, (Karnataka, India)
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about

Faculty Profile

Tshering Tempa is the leading tiger biologist in Bhutan. Tempa has a Ph.D. in Wildlife Biology, from the University of Montana and has spent more than 20 years in the wilderness of Bhutan contributing to tiger conservation and wildlife research. He started the first systematic remote camera trap monitoring of tigers and other wildlife in Royal Manas National Park (RMNP). He is the IUCN tiger specialist group and his works are known internationally. Dr. Tempa has been featured in NHK, as one of the leaders making changes at the grassroots level.

Dr. Tempa is a passionate tiger conservationist and worked as Program Director for the Bhutan Tiger Center from 2017 till he joined SFS. He continues to work on predator (tiger)-prey dynamics in the sub-tropical and temperate forest of Bhutan using remote cameras and genetics. He and his team are also monitoring tigers and other large cats using radio telemetry.

Academics & Research

Research Interests

  • Predator (tiger)-prey dynamics in sub-tropical and temperate forest of Bhutan using remote cameras and genetics.
  • Monitoring of tigers and other large cats using radio-telemetry
  • Using non-invasive genetics to monitor tiger population connectivity
  • Impact of climate change on tiger and other wildlife populations

Professional Affiliations

IUCN tiger specialist group and National Geographic Explorer
outputs

Publications

The spatial distribution and population density of tigers in mountainous terrain of Bhutan.

Tempa, T., Hebblewhite, M., Goldberg, J. F., Norbu, N., Wangchuk, T. R., Xiao, W., & Mills, L. S. (2019). Biological Conservation, 238, 108192.

The ecology of Mountain Tigers in the montane ecosystem in the kingdom of Bhutan.

Tempa, et al. (2017). PhD dissertation, University of Montana, USA.

Clouded leopard co-exists with six other felids in Royal Manas National Park, Bhutan.

Dhendup, T.,Tempa, T., and Tenzin, U.(2016). CATnews (63). ISSN 1027-2992 IUCN/SSC Cat Specialist Group

Camera trap records of Asiatic golden cat at high altitudes in Bhutan.

Dhendup, T.,Tempa, T., and Norbu, N.(2016). CATnews (64). ISSN 1027-2992 IUCN/SSC Cat Specialist Group.

New distribution record of the Bhutan Takin Budorcas taxicolor whitei Hodgson, 1850 (Cetartiodactyla: Bovidae) in Bhutan.

Dhendup, T., Tempa, T., Tshering, T., & Norbu, N. (2016). Journal of Threatened Taxa, 8(11), 9365-9366.

Examining temporal sample scale and model choice with spatial capture-recapture models in the common leopard Panthera pardus.

Goldberg, J. F., Tempa, T., Norbu, N., Hebblewhite, M., Mills, L. S., Wangchuk, T. R., & Lukacs, P. (2015). PloS one, 10(11), e0140757.

Royal Manas National Park, Bhutan: a hot spot for wild felids.

Tempa et.al (2013). Fauna & Flora International, Oryx, 47(2), 207–210.

Partial altitudinal migration of a Himalayan forest pheasant.

Norbu, N., Wikelski, M. C., Wilcove, D. S., Partecke, J., Tenzin, U., & Tempa, T. (2013). PloS one, 8(4), e60979.

Conservation biology research priorities in Bhutan. In: Mills S, Tempa T, eds. Wildlife Research Techniques in Rugged Mountainous Asian Landscapes (eds ).

Mills, L. S, Tempa, T., Norbu, N. and Wangchuk,R., T (2013) UWICE: RGoB. Lamai Gompa, Bumtang.

Wildlife Research Techniques in Rugged Mountainous Asian Landscapes.

Mills, L. S. and T. Tempa, eds (2014). UWICE, Ministry of Agriculture, Royal Government of Bhutan. Jakar: Bumtang. 210 pages

Grants and Awards

2005

Recipient of Frist Trongsa Penlop Fellowship for Environment and Conservation

2014-2015

WWF’s Russell E. Train Education for Nature Program (EFN)

2011

National Geographic Explorer, Waitt Grants Award

2012

Wildlife Conservation Society Research Fellowship

Presentations

Tigerscape: Hope for the Future of Wild Tigers