Hail the Rise of the Indian Wild Tiger
by Sangeeta Haindl
This is a good news story about the wild Indian tiger. As according to the latest tiger figures released in a report by India’s National Tiger Conservation Authority the population is rising! In 2014 tigers increased to 2,226 from 1,706 in 2010. In 2006 there numbers were meagre, at only 1,411. However, the current tiger population is a fraction of the 45,000 that roamed India a century ago. Around 70 percent of the world’s wild tigers live in India, where their habitat has been threatened by uncontrolled development and poaching. This growth is largely due to better management and improved protection. This report, The Status of Tigers in India, 2014 highlights the importance of tigers maintaining core habitats for breeding, habitat connectivity and protection from poaching.
At a time when the global tiger population is under threat, activists have called the new statistics “robust” and “very good news.” It is encouraging that India’s tiger numbers are increasing as figures show this was not the situation a decade ago. The data in this report covered more than 115,800 square miles across 18 Indian states and analysed images from thousands of camera trap locations across tiger landscapes. For the first time, areas outside tiger reserves were also included in the study. The World Wildlife Fund was also part of this unprecedented effort led by the National Tiger Conservation Authority, state Forest Departments and the Wildlife Institute of India, including other conservation organisations.
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Photo Credit: The National Tiger Conservation Authority
Sangeeta Haindl writes on social innovation, social enterprise, and social entrepreneurs. She is the owner of Serendipity PR, in London, U.K., where she works with high-profile brands and organizations in the public, non-profit, and corporate sectors, winning awards for her work from the communications industry. She describes herself as a Spiritual Entrepreneur, Conscious Explorer, and Futurist. She enjoys helping others, paying it forward, and being a mum.