Bhubaneswar: The International Tiger Day is a global observance that seeks to preserve tigers’ natural habitats and raise public awareness and support for conservation efforts worldwide. The day is celebrated on July 29 annually.
According to the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), approximately 100,000 tigers roamed the wild a century ago, while current estimates suggest there are only about 4,000 remaining today, and this number is decreasing.
It was first established in 2010 at the Saint Petersburg Tiger Summit, highlights the alarming decline in tiger populations and the urgent need for conservation efforts. Thirteen tiger-range countries, including Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan, Malaysia, India, and Russia, attended the summit.
Under the “Tx2” program, the primary goal was to double the tiger population by 2022 through international collaboration and conservation effort; since then, the day has come to represent a global campaign to safeguard tigers.
Under the theme “Securing the future of Tigers with Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities at the heart,” this year’s international campaign highlights a growing recognition that conservation efforts are most effective when they are inclusive, equitable, and led by those who know the land best. The previous year slogans for the day have included “Roar for Tigers” and “Save Tigers, Save Forests, Save Life.”
The significance of the day lies in raising awareness about tiger conservation and the urgent threats they face, such as habitat loss, poaching, and human-wildlife conflict, and inspiring collective action.
On April 24 this year, Odisha Government has notified the Similipal Tiger Reserve (STR), the world’s only home to wild melanistic tigers, as a national park spanning an area of 845.70 sq/km. It is the 107th national park and the second in the eastern State, after the Bhitarkanika.
STR, located in Odisha’s Mayurbhanj district, is known for its rich biodiversity, including 40 Royal Bengal tigers, 25% of Odisha’s elephant population, and 104 orchid species. It is also home to over 360 bird species and various other mammals like leopards and sambar deer.
Similarly, the All India Tiger Estimation (AITE) 2026 is expected to kick off in the post-monsoon season across major landscapes of the State. The phase one of the tiger estimation exercise carried out by the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) in collaboration with the Wildlife Institute of India (WII) and State forest departments across the country every four years, will commence in the post-monsoon season towards October this year and include carnivore sign surveys and herbivore line transects among other methods for monitoring of prey and predator movement.
The phase two exercise will include habitat quality assessment through remote sensing. Camera traps will be used in the third phase towards December-January across different divisions as a part of it.
The AITE 2022 had suggested a drop in Odisha’s tiger count – from 28 in 2018 to 20 in 2022. It had traced 16 of these 20 tigers in STR. The exercise prompted the State government to launch its own tiger estimation exercise – All Odisha Tiger Estimation (AOTE) 2023-24 – that pegged the State’s big cat number at 30 including 27 in Similipal landscape.