Nine years ago, India sought to double its tiger population by 2022. But on International Tiger Day, the country announced it met its goal four years earlier than expected.
Through assiduous conservation efforts, India is now home to nearly 3,000 tigers, a third more than it had four years ago, according to a new census. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who presented the findings on Monday, said the tiger population had risen from 2,226 in 2014 to 2,967 in 2018. India is now said to be home to around 70 percent of the world’s tigers.
According to conservationists, the successful population growth is due to a number of government initiatives to streamline tiger conservation, including a ban on hunting and awareness drives in villages.
