India’s tiger population rises 30% in three years, says forest minister

Environment, Forests and Climate Change Minister, Prakash Javadekar, on Wednesday stated that the country's tiger population rose by 30 per cent in three years. The minister said this while replying to a question by BJP MP Prathap Simha, from Mysuru.

In 2008, India had 1,411 tigers. The number rose to 1706 in the year 2011, and 2014's latest tiger census revealed the number to be 2,226, which amounts to 70% of the world's total tiger population.

According to Javedkar the 30 per cent rise in numbers is a reflection of the governmental efforts behind tiger preservation programs, along with the work put in by wildlife authorities and even local people.

"While the tiger population is falling in the world, it is rising in India. It is a great news", said Javadekar.

"Never before such an exercise has been taken in that massive scale where we have unique photographs of 80% of the India's tiger," he proclaimed.

At 408, Karnataka boasts the highest tiger population aged 1.5 years or more, according to the 2014 tiger census. Uttarakhand follows closely with 340 tigers, while Madhya Pradesh has 308.

In Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra, there are 229 and 190 tigers respectively. In Assam, Kerala and Uttar Pradesh, the numbers stand at 167, 136 and 117.