Global Tiger Day every July 29

BANGALORE: Every year July 29 will be celebrated as Global Tiger Day. This has been one of the major recommendations made at the Global Tiger Summit. BK Singh, Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (Wildlife) told Express that Karnataka is home to more than 20 per cent of the nation’s tiger population with an estimated 300 tigers.Majority of the tigers are confined to Bandipur, Bhadra, Nagarhole, Dandeli, Biligiri Rangaswamy Temple Wildlife Sanctuary and Kudremukh tiger reserve areas.The State Forest Department (Wildlife) has three basic mantras. “Firstly restoring the tiger habitat, addressing the issues of human habitats on the fringes of tiger reserve areas and finally measures to prevent and control poaching and smuggling of tigers,” he added.At the summit held at St Petersburg in Russia which was attended by heads of 12 governments, including India in November, the fact that tiger numbers and habitats have declined by 40 per cent (from about 10,0000 to below 3,500) in the past one decade, was brought out. The tiger has been one of the indicators of a healthy ecosystem and failure to reverse these trends will result in not only the loss of tigers but also a loss of biodiversity throughout the Asiatic region.With increased coordination, the tiger range countries (India, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Russia, Thailand and Vietnam) would be striving to double the number of wild tigers by 2020.