International Tiger Day: Population of big cats increases in India. Here's what you may want to know

International Tiger Day is observed today around the world on July 29 every year. In the recent years, the number of Bengal tigers have increased slightly after years of decline. According to experts and officials, the rise in number of Bengal tigers is because of timely action taken by the local communities, law enforcers and advocacy led by governments. These measures were implemented after the Global Tiger Summit, which was held in 2010.

However, the growth in the number of tigers is far below the target of doubling them by 2022, despite the fact that the development appears to be a very positive one for conservation. At the 2010 summit in Russia, 13 nations had set the target.

According to The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), there were approximately 40 per cent more tigers out there in the wild than what was anticipated. Globally, there are around 5,578 tigers. This is the result of improved monitoring. The population of tiger is probably stable or increasing.


Coming to Sundarbans, the number of tigers was 106 in 2015. In 2018, this number rose to 114. Khagrachhari's Kasalong reserve forest, however, is believed to have tiger habitations with plentiful foliage and prey. It is recommended that government should take an immediate action in order to access the presence of tiger in the said area.

According to M Monirul H Khan, the chairman of Jahangirnagar University’s zoology department, the number of tigers has increased in most of the countries, which are native to these animals. However, the target of doubling their population by 2022 is yet to be achieved. In Bangladesh, the population of tiger has increased very poorly. If better protection is given to tigers present in Sundarbans (part of delta that falls in Bangladesh), the numbers will increase in a better manner.

Bangladesh has also organised programmes to commemorate the International Tiger Day, which includes rallies. In order to reduce human-tiger conflict in the Sundarbans, Bangladesh has taken steps to conduct a tiger census, but the survey hasn't started yet because of shortage of fund.