International Tiger Day was observed across the world on 29 July 2015. The day is observed every year since 2010 to promote the protection and expansion of the wild tiger habitats and to gain support through awareness for tiger conservation.
World has lost 97 percent of all wild tigers, in last 100 years. The tiger count has fallen from 100000 in 1913 to 3274 in 2013 to 3200 in 2014.
Tigers lost 93% of their natural habitat due to the expansion of cities and agriculture by humans. Besides, human-wildlife conflict and climate change also has been responsible for decline in tiger population and loss of habitat.
India: the habitat of Tigers
Among the 13 tiger-range countries, India with 2226 has the highest number of tiger population. India is followed by Malaysia with 500 tigers. Bangladesh, which was at third with 440 tigers in 2004, saw the tiger population decline to 106 in Tiger Census 2015.
The day was founded at the Saint Petersburg Tiger Summit in 2010 in Russia so as to protect the tiger from becoming extinct. The summit also declared to double global tiger population by 2022.
