On International Tiger Day, July 29, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi revealed some data that we can all be proud of. The number of tigers in India has increased from 2,226 in the year 2014 to 2,967 in 2019. By Kumar Shree
When on a jungle safari, while the likes of deer, sambhar, bird species, monkeys, macaques, elephants and even rhinos in certain parts of the country are easy to spot, it is the big cats like leopard, lions and tigers that are rarely spotted. Well, we can’t say anything about leopards and lions for now, but your chances of spotting a tiger on that next jungle safari has surely increased as the number of tigers in India is increasing at a slow and steady pace.
The numbers are released by All India Tiger Estimation Results. Out of these tigers, Madhya Pradesh leads the tally with 526 tigers reigning on its grounds. MP is immediately followed by Karnataka with 524 tigers to their credit. The hilly habitats of Uttarakhand occupy the third spot on this list with 442 tigers. The fourth and fifth spots are occupied by Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu with 312 and 264 tigers, respectively. While releasing the new numbers, Prime Minister Modi said, “India, with around 3,000 tigers is one of the biggest and safest habitats for tigers in the world.”
This increase can be attributed to the continuous efforts for tiger and the wildlife conservation. Union Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar declared an increase of the forest cover in India by about 15,000 sq km in the span of four years between 2014 to 2018. Along with the increase in forest cover, the number of protected areas has also increased from that of 692 in 2014 to 860 in 2019. The number of community reserves has also increased to a count of 100 from that of 43.
Rajesh Gopal, former member secretary, National Tiger Conservation Authority and secretary general of Global Tiger Forum said, “It’s a great day. It has happened with a lot of good practices.”
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