International Tiger Day is celebrated on July 29 every year to generate awareness regarding the dwindling population of the species. The date July 29 is historic because on this day several countries signed the agreement in the Saint Petersburg Tiger Summit, which was held in Russia in 2010.
The agreement was about raising awareness about the decreasing tiger population globally and preserving the natural habitat of tigers. Also, the representatives from various countries declared that the tiger-populated countries would thrive to double the tiger population to over 6,000 by the end of the year 2022. The theme for this international day is – “Their Survival is in our hands”. According to the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) numbers of the Wild Tiger dropped by more than 95% over the last 150 years. However, for the first time in their conservation history, WWF has observed that their numbers are on the increase. With Tiger reserves in place and thriving efforts by the Environment department, India has successfully doubled the tiger population ahead of the 2022 target. Currently the total population of tigers around the world is known to be at 3,900. Around 3,000 of those wild tiger populations are in India. Before the population of the wild cat became endangered, tigers used to roam across most of Asia. At present their population is restricted to just 7 percent of their original range and are only found in isolated forests and grasslands across 13 countries in the world.
