INTERNATIONAL TIGER’S DAY
“Be like a Tiger. Hunt alone for your prey. Your prey is your goal. And, your goal is your life.”
World Tiger Day is celebrated on July 29 every year to raise awareness about a gradual decline in tiger population leaving them on the brink of extinction, and to encourage tiger conservation. International Tiger Day was established in 2010 at Saint Petersburg Tiger Summit in Russia. At the summit, governments of tiger-populated countries vowed to double tiger population by 2020.
Around 3,900 tigers remain in the wild across the globe, according to World Wildlife Fund (WWF). Since the beginning of the 20th century, over 95 per cent of the world's tiger population has been lost. A WWF report says that about a 100 years ago, there might have been over 100,000 tigers roaming the planet.
There are different species of tigers — Siberian tigers, Bengal tigers, Indochinese tigers, Malayan tigers and South China tigers. The Bengal tiger is found primarily in India, with smaller a population of them in Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan, China and Myanmar as well. It is the most numerous of all tiger subspecies, with more than 2,500 left in the wild. The creation of India’s tiger reserves in the 1970s helped stabilise tigers’ numbers. After a survey across 18 states, the Indian government in 2019 estimated the count of tigers in the country at 2,967. The Tiger Estimation Report 2018, released by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on July 29, 2019, said that the population of tigers in India had increased to 2,967 in 2018 from 2,226 in 2014, according to the tiger census.
India
India has 70% of total tiger’s population in the world. To commemorate Global Tiger Day, the Union Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar released all India Tiger estimation 2018 report. Also the Union Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan is to release a report on Tiger census to commemorate Global Tiger Day.
Highlights
The day is celebrated to create awareness for Tiger conservation. It promotes a system to protect natural habitats of tigers and raise public awareness. This year, the Global Tiger Day is celebrated with the slogan, “The survival is in our hands.”
Saint Petersburg summit
The summit was held to increase the awareness about declining tiger population in the world. Also, the leaders attended the summit pledged to make efforts to double the tiger population by 2022.
Significance
From the beginning of 20th century, around 95% of the tiger population have been lost according to World Wildlife Fund. Currently, there are only 3900 wild tigers. Poaching, climate change and habitat loss are the main reasons for the decrease in Tiger population.
Why 29th July is chosen?
This is because 29th July acts as a reminder of agreement signed by countries at Saint Petersburg Tiger Summit in Russia in 2010, to raise awareness about decline of global tiger population. Signatories declared an agreement that governments of tiger-populated countries would double animal’s population by 2022.
Tiger Conservation in India
Tigers are one of world’s most iconic species, Tigers are an “Umbrella Species” as their conservation also conserves many other species in the same area. Thus with initiative of conserving India’s national animal, Project Tiger was launched in 1973. Due to planned efforts under Project Tiger, at present India has distinction of having maximum number of tigers in the world. The 2014 country level tiger assessment had shown a 30% increase of tigers i.e., from 1706 in 2010, tiger population has increased to 2226 in 2014. However, despite conservation efforts since 1970s, wild tiger population showed a rapid decline therefore in 2010, during St. Petersburg Declaration, tiger range countries had resolved to double tiger numbers by 2022.
Significance: Observing World Tiger Day is significant because according to World Wildlife Fund(WWF), currently there are only around 3900 wild tigers in world and as per reports, since the beginning of 20th century around 95% of global tiger population has been lost lo various activities like poaching, etc.
“When a Tiger walks free in its natural habitat, nature feels proud. Save the Tiger. Save the environment”
