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News > World

India Leads Tiger Conservation as World Marks 'Tiger Day'

  • A newly born white tiger cub bares its fangs.

    A newly born white tiger cub bares its fangs. | Photo: Reuters

Published 29 July 2018
Opinion

Melghat Tiger Reserve was first established in Maharashtra in 1972  to launch 'Project Tiger.'  According to the 2017 tiger census, Melghat has 41 adult tigers and 18 cubs.

To raise public awareness and garner support for tiger conservation, Global Tiger Day — also known as the International Tiger Day — will celebrate the conservation efforts Sunday. 

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According to the Indian Express, India's national daily, the country has made significant advances in the conservation of tigers, whose lives were in serious jeopardy. In 2006, there were nearly 1,411 tigers, which increased to 1,706 in 2010 and 2,226 in 2014. 

According to a recent report, nearly 97 percent of the world's tiger population has perished in the last 100 years with only 3,890 tigers left in the world, out of which, 2,226 remain in India.  

Srinivas Reddy, chief conservator of forests, Melghat Tiger Reserve, in the Amravati District of the state of Maharashtra, said in a statement issued Saturday that Bangladesh, Vietnam, Cambodia, India, Bhutan, Thailand, Indonesia, Laos, China, Malaysia, Russia, Nepal and Myanmar are among the few countries with wild tigers.  

To commemorate the event, the walls of the nearest railway station have been adorned with wildlife paintings to create awareness for visitors about the importance of protection of tigers. 

A new initiative for people to earn a livelihood has also been launched by the Melghat Tiger Reserve in about eight villages near another sanctuary in the state of Maharashtra, Dhyanaganga Sanctuary. 

Some of the threats to the tigers' lives include habitat destruction, habitat fragmentation and commercial poaching for fur and body parts, which have led to their decline in the wild. 

Melghat Tiger Reserve was first established in Maharashtra in 1972  to launch 'Project Tiger.'  According to the 2017 tiger census, Melghat has 41 adult tigers and 18 cubs.

The Indian Express reported that the reserve is also working hard to resolve the drinking water problems for wildlife, so far, they have constructed gabion structures, earthen dams and cemented dams to conserve water for the big cats. 
Water tankers have been used to fill the artificial waterholes inside the forest in order to provide round-the-clock water to wild animals.

The South Asian country's first Wildlife Crime Cell has been established by the forest department at Melghat Tiger Reserve to control animal poaching. So far, over 50 poachers have been caught from all over India in various cases.  

The annual celebration was first set to motion in 2010 at the Saint Petersburg Tiger Summit. 

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