International Tiger’s Day 2024: History, Theme, Significance

International Tiger’s Day, also known as Global Tiger Day, is celebrated every year on 29 July. This day aims to raise awareness about the issues being faced by tigers around the world, eventually resulting in a rapid decline in their population. Tigers have always inspired us to be strong and now is our chance to conserve them. They are wonderful creatures known for strength, grace, and speed. It is the National animal and the pride of India. In this blog, you will learn more about the history of International Tiger’s Day, its significance, and other details.  

Name of the day	International Tiger’s Day
Observed on	July 29
Reason	To raise awareness about tigers and issues which are leading to a decrease in their population.

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Brief History of International Tiger’s Day

• International Tiger’s Day was founded in 2010 at the Saint Petersburg Tiger Summit in Russia.
• Since then, the whole world has dedicated this day to spreading awareness for the conservation of tigers and their habitat.
• The 13 tiger range countries united to create Tx2- they aim to double the number of wild tigers by 2022 and save this magnificent endangered big cat from becoming extinct.

List of countries actively involved in fulfilling the aim of International Tiger Day:

• Nepal
• Indonesia
• Bhutan
• India
• Malaysia
• Cambodia
• China
• Taiwan

Know More About International Tiger Day

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International Tiger’s Day: Significance

International Tiger’s Day holds great significance for numerous reasons such as:

• Despite their strength, tigers face severe threats due to humans and climatic conditions severely affecting their existence in the ecosystem.
• This issue has created the need to spread awareness through International Tiger Day.
• At the beginning of the 20th century, there were around 1,00,000 tigers in the wild. But gradually due to human intervention through poaching, illegal wildlife trade, habitat destruction, etc, their numbers have declined drastically to 3,900 today.
• It educates people about the importance of tigers in the ecosystem.

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International Tiger’s Day: Theme 2024

The official theme of International Tiger’s Day has not been declared yet. We will update it as soon as it becomes available to the general public. In 2023, the theme was Tigers: Roar for Conservation.

Reasons Behind the Decline of Tigers Worldwide

The decline in the population of tigers is associated with several interrelated factors, primarily driven by human activities:

• Habitat Loss: The conversion of forests by humans into agricultural land, logging, urbanization, and infrastructure development has led to a significant reduction in the tiger’s natural habitat. 
• Poaching: Illegal hunting for tiger body parts like skin, bone, teeth, etc. for trading purposes by humans disrupts the delicate balance of the population of tigers. 
• Illegal Wildlife Trade: The illegal trade in tigers i.e. selling and purchasing of tigers as pets or for other entertainment and commercial purposes is exploiting the reproduction rate and cycle of tigers in the wild. 
• Human-Wildlife Conflict: As human populations expand into tiger habitats, conflicts arise due to livestock depredation or threats to human safety, leading to retaliatory killings of tigers.
• Climate Change: it is also one of the major reasons posing a great impact on the tiger population. Rising sea levels and changing weather patterns threaten the delicate ecosystems that tigers rely on, which ultimately affects their prey and habitats.

Also, Read: World Elephant Day

Ways to Conserve Tigers

As an individual, this International Tiger’s Day you can promise yourself that you would adopt different ways in which you could help conserve tigers worldwide.

Following are some ways to conserve tigers:

• Make sure that the products you buy are not made from endangered wildlife or their body parts. 
• Spread awareness through your social media handles and encourage people to preserve wildlife. 
• Donate to wildlife charities who are working for the conservation of tigers worldwide.
• Be a responsible tourist while visiting wildlife sanctuaries to witness the beauty of tigers and other animals. 

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Government Initiatives

The Government of India plays an important role in the conservation of tigers. Many initiatives are taken by the Indian government to help secure the population of tigers in the world. Some key initiatives are listed below:

• Launched in 1973, Project Tiger aims at creating and maintaining tiger reserves in the country. These tiger reserves would ultimately serve as protected areas for tigers to thrive and live peacefully in their natural habitat.
• The Indian Government also launched the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) in 2005. This authority is responsible for overseeing, coordinating and implementing tiger conservation policies and projects. 
• Tiger reserves, anti-poaching measures and community participation are some of the other steps taken by the Indian government to conserve tigers and their habitat and eradicate the increasing number of crimes taking place against tigers.

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