PM Modi To Launch 3-Day Event To Mark 50 Years Of 'Project Tiger', To Release Census Data On Big Cats

With a population of about 3,000 tigers, India is home to over 70 per cent of the global wild tiger population.

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New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will launch a three-day mega event from April 9 in Mysuru to mark the completion of 50 years of ‘Project Tiger’ and showcase India's tiger conservation success globally, news agency PTI reported.

PM Modi will also release the latest tiger census data, the government’s vision for tiger conservation and a commemorative coin, said SP Yadav, member secretary, National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA).

"We are the only country which has done independent periodic assessment of tiger reserves. The prime minister will release a detailed report on this," PTI quoted Yadav as saying.

Notably, India launched Project Tiger on April 1, 1973 in a bid to promote tiger conservation.

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Initially, the project covered nine tiger reserves spanning across 18,278 sq km and now India has 53 tiger reserves, covering more than 75,000 sq km (approximately 2.4 per cent of the country's geographical area), of tiger habitat.

According to the report, the three-day event will see the participation of forest and wildlife ministers from all states, ministers of all tiger range countries, scientists and representatives of major international NGOs.

It is to be noted that with a population of about 3,000 tigers, India is home to over 70 per cent of the global wild tiger population, and their number is said to be increasing at a rate of six per cent every year.

The tiger reserves are repositories for biodiversity conservation in the country. They ensure regional water security and carbon sequestration and, thereby, contribute in accomplishing India's climate change mitigation targets.

Notably, nations with tiger populations -- India, Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Russia, Thailand and Vietnam -- in 2010 committed to doubling their big cat population by 2022. India reached its target in 2018, four years ahead of the schedule.