India’s tiger population has risen to nearly 3,000, which makes it the country that is one of the safest habitats for the endangered animals.
India releases an estimate of its tiger population every four years. On Monday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi released the country’s tiger count for 2018, and claimed it has been a “historic achievement” for the country.
14 to 15 years ago, the big cat population drastically dropped to only 1,400, but Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar noted that their population has now increased to 2,226 during its last cound in 2014.
“With around 3,000 tigers, India has emerged as one of the biggest and safest habitats for them in the world,” Modi said. “Nine years ago, it was decided in St. Petersburg (Russia) that the target of doubling the tiger population would be 2022. We in India completed this target four years in advance.”
He added that the country’s protected areas rose to 860, compared to 692 in 2014, noting about the great works done by all those involved in the conservation of tigers.
Belinda Wright, founder of the Wildlife Protection Society of India that is based in New Delhi, praises India for its conservation achievement. But, she noted that it is a long way to go to continue these efforts, considering one of the many challenges they faced: a human-tiger conflict.
She said that India has so many people, and government data show that one person is killed every day by tigers or elephants.
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