PM to release tiger census data at mega event in Mysuru to mark 50 years of Project Tiger

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will launch a three-day mega event on April 9 in Mysuru in Karnataka to mark the completion of 50 years of Project Tiger and showcase India’s tiger conservation success globally, officials said on Friday.

The prime minister will also release the latest tiger census data, the government’s vision for tiger conservation during ‘Amrit Kaal’ and a commemorative coin, said S P 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,” he said.

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

India launched Project Tiger on April 1, 1973 to promote tiger conservation. Initially, it covered nine tiger reserves spread over 18,278 sq km.

At present, 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.

With a current population of about 3,000 tigers, India is home to more than 70 per cent of the global wild tiger population and their number is increasing at six per cent per annum.

The tiger reserves are repositories for biodiversity conservation in the country. These ensure regional water security and carbon sequestration and thus contribute in accomplishing India’s climate change mitigation targets.

Countries with tiger populations — India, Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Russia, Thailand and Vietnam — in 2010 committed to doubling their number of big cats by 2022.

India met its target in 2018, four years ahead of schedule.