The National Animal of India is the magnificent tiger (Panthera tigris). These iconic animals are recognizable for their beautiful pattern of dark vertical stripes on thick fur coat of colour varying from yellow to reddish orange with a lighter underside.
According to a 2016 global census, there are only about 3,890 wild tigers in the world, down from around 100,000 at the beginning of the 20th century. Out of this, about 2,580 are living in the Indian subcontinent. The major reasons for the decline in their population include poaching and habitat destruction.
Tigers belong to the genus Panthera to which the lion, leopard, jaguar and snow leopard also belong. There are 10 Panthera tigris subspecies out of which four are extinct. The remaining six subspecies have been declared endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
The subspecies known as the Indian tiger (Panthera tigris tigris), also called the Royal Bengal Tiger, is the most numerous. It has a population of 2,226 living in the wild in India. It can be found in the wild throughout India except in the northwestern region. It is also found in Nepal, Bhutan and Bangladesh.
In April 1973, the Government of India launched a conservation program known as Project Tiger. The project aims at increasing the population of Bengal tigers in their natural habitats. Under this program, the government has so far established 27 tiger reserves covering total area of 37,761 sq km.
In 2016, the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) declared that the world population of wild tigers has increased for the first time in a century.
No comments:
Post a Comment