(Daily News Scan - DNS English) International Tiger Day - 29th July
Important Points:
Every year since 2010, International Tiger Day is observed on July 29. This day was established in St. Petersburg Tiger Summit in Russia for raising awareness about the decline of tigers in the world. During the summit, governments of Tiger populated countries vowed to increase the tiger population by 2020. This day is also known as Global Tiger Day.
In this DNS, we will know some facts about Tigers and the initiatives taken by the government to increase the population of Tigers.
Tigers are the largest species of the cat family. These are found in dense forests and jungles. A good amount of tigers can be found in ASIA, KOREA and Russia. Siberian Tiger is the biggest tiger breed present on Earth. Altogether there are 6 sub species of tigers present on the earth- Siberian Tiger, South China Tiger, Sumatran Tiger, Indo Chinese Tiger, Bengal Tiger and Malayan Tiger.
Tiger was declared the national animal of India in the year 1973. Before that the Lion was the official animal of India. The strength, agility and grace of the Royal Bengal tiger made it the official animal of the country. The scientific name of Bengal tiger is Panthera Tigris Tigris. It can be found in the Indian sub continent including Bangladesh, Nepal, Myanmar and Sri Lanka.
The male tigers grow upto 3 metres in length, gain maturity within 4-5 years of birth and weigh 180 kg to 300 kg. Whereas the females attain a length of 2.6 metres, weigh around 100-160 kg attains maturity within 3-4 years of birth.
Presence of tiger on our planet has been long. They have held a significant place in the Indian culture as well. In Hindu mythology tiger is regarded as the symbol of power and as per scriptures it was most often used as the vehicle of goddess. To give more prominence to tigers in our country it has also been featured in the currency notes.
Almost 95% of the world’s tiger population was lost since the beginning of 20 century. There are several reasons for the decline in the population of tigers. The major reason among several is –
Illicit trade of tiger parts, loss in tiger habitat due to expansion of towns and development of cities along the outskirts, lack of awareness and Human conflicts – many tigers are being killed due to face off with the humans, the recent example of this case is seen in Uttar Pradesh, a tigress was beaten to death by villagers.
Tiger population in the world has been adversely affected. Keeping in mind the declining numbers of big cat , several international and national organizations have come together and pledged to work towards conservation of tigers. India witnesses the majority of world’s tiger population.
Project Tiger took off in 1973 for the conservation of tigers in India . The project was sponsored by Ministry of Environment Forest and Climate Change. 47 Tiger reserves in 17 regions were a part of this project. The number of tigers in these reserves was 268 in 9 reserves in 1973 which increased to above 1000 in 28 reserves in 2006 and to 2000 and above in 2016. WWF- (World Wildlife Fund) India work for Tiger conservation in partnership with respective state forest departments in order to educate people about maintaining a better habitat for the tigers. It also conducts camera trapping exercises and other researches for keeping a track on the tigers. As per WWF in 2010, only 3200 tigers were left. Because of which 13 tiger range countries including India came together to pledge for Tiger conservation.
The last survey conducted in 2014 in India, marked increase in tigers counting to 2226 from 1706 in 2010. Globally the population of tigers was between 3062 and 3948 in the year 2015.
The tiger census is prepared in every 4 years by National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA).
The latest data of tigers, All India Tiger Estimation Report 2018, released on 29 July 2019, shows that there are almost 3000 tigers in India, making India one of the biggest and secure habitats for tigers . As per the census Madhya Pradesh has the highest number of tigers counting to be 526, followed by Karnataka at 524.
The target to double Tiger population by 2022 is achieved by India 4 years early. The tiger is considered as the largest predator in the food chain and plays a significant role in maintaining the ecological balance. However this ecological balance has been disturbed due to confrontation of mankind and wild species. To restore the balance of nature there should be concerted efforts by the governments worldwide and at individual level.
