International Tiger Day, History, Most Important Significance

International Tiger Day: Global Tiger Day or International Tiger Day is observed every year on 29th July. International Tiger Day is an annual observation day globally. This is an annual celebration to raise awareness for tiger conservation.

International Tiger Day

The International Tiger day was founded in 2010, when the 13 tiger range countries came together to create Tx2 – the global goal to double the number of wild tigers by the year 2022.

From the world’s largest mangrove forests in the Sundarbans, to the snowy mountains in Northeast China and Russia, protecting wild tigers and their natural homes provides benefits for thousands of species and millions of people.

As top predators, wild tigers play an important role in maintaining the harmony of the planet’s ecosystems. By preying on herbivores, tigers help to keep the balance between the prey animals and the forest vegetation which they feed upon.

Tigers once lived across Asia, from eastern Turkey and the Caspian Sea south of the Tibetan plateau eastward to Manchuria and the Sea of Okhotsk. Tigers were also found in northern Iran, Afghanistan, the Indus valley of Pakistan, and the islands of Java and Bali.

Today, as a result of rampant poaching and unchecked habitat destruction, the tiger’s range has shrunk by over 95%. Wild tiger numbers dropped by more than 95% since the beginning of the 20th century.

International Tiger Day was introduced in 2010 after it was discovered that 97 per cent of tigers had disappeared in the past century, with only about 3,000 remaining. Since tigers were on the verge of extinction, a number of countries signed an agreement at the Saint Petersburg Tiger Summit in Russia to prevent the situation from worsening. Tigers are found in only 13 countries of the world, while 70 per cent of its tigers are in India only.

Reasons behind the declining population of Tigers

1. Poaching and illegal trade: For traditional Chinese medicines, tigers face the problem of poaching as there is a demand for every part of the body of the tiger. In illegal wildlife trades, they keep high prices.

2. Habitat loss: Nowadays and with the increasing population forest are becoming less in number. Clearing of forests for several reasons like agriculture, industries, etc. made a loss of around 93% of the natural habitats of tigers.

3. Climate Change: With the rise of sea level due to climate change lead to wiping out of Sundarbans one of the habitats of the Royal Bengal Tigers.

4. Several diseases are also the key factor. Several animals die and there is no way to ascertain the cause of their death. Certain diseases spread epidemic like Feline Panleucopania, tuberculosis, etc.

5. The study of Wildlife Institute of India (WII) in the Ranthambore Tiger Reserve (RTR) says that the tiger population in the park shown a loss of genetic diversity over the years.

6. Degradation of Habitats: Big cats want secure and disturbance-free habitat to survive but due to several developmental activities in the landscape of the protected areas (PAs) pose a big threat to tigers.

7. Man-animal conflict also affects the population of big cats.

8. Lack of protection infrastructure.

9. Increasing tourism day by day is also one of the factors for the decline in tiger numbers.

Tiger Population in World

As per the World wildlife fund ( WWF ), After a century of decline, overall wild tiger numbers are starting to tick upward. Based on the best available information, tiger populations are stable or increasing in India, Nepal, Bhutan, Russia and China. About 4,500 tigers remain in the wild, but much more work is needed to protect this species if we are to secure its future in the wild. In some areas, including much of Southeast Asia, tigers are still in crisis and declining in number.

Out of 4500, almost 70% are in India. Tiger Population in India has increased to 3,167, according to a recent census of 2022.

Important Facts About Tiger

There are two recognized subspecies of tiger, the continental (Panthera tigris tigris) and the Sunda (Panthera tigris sondaica).

The largest of all the Asian big cats, tigers rely primarily on sight and sound rather than smell for hunting.

They typically hunt alone and stalk prey.

A tiger can consume more than 80 pounds of meat at one time

On average, tigers give birth to two to four cubs every two years.

Tigers generally gain independence at around two years of age and attain sexual maturity at age three or four for females and four or five years for males.

Tigers have been known to reach up to 20 years of age in the wild.

Males of the larger subspecies, the continental tiger, may weigh up to 660 pounds.

Sunda tigers are distinguished by heavy black stripes on their orange coats.

The continental tiger is found on the Asian mainland. This subspecies comprises Bengal, Malayan, Indochinese, and Amur tiger populations. The Caspian tiger is extinct in the wild, while the South China tiger is believed to be functionally extinct.

Tiger reserves in India

The tiger reserves of India were set up in 1973 and are governed under Project Tiger, which is administrated by the National Tiger Conservation Authority, Government of India.

The Bengal Tiger is considered as the National animal of India. It was declared under the project tiger.

Madhya Pradesh has the highest number of tigers (526) in the age group of 1.5 years with more than 408 big cats. Other states with significant populations included Uttarakhand (442), Karnataka (524), Tamil Nadu (229), Maharashtra (190), Assam (167), Kerala (136) and Uttar Pradesh.

In 2006, India estimated that there were 1,411 tigers which doubled to 3167 in 2022.

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