Hear them Roar: Celebrating International Tiger Day

It was piercing cold as we braved the December chill at 4 am in the morning. The freezing chilly winds could not deter us in our pursuit to spot tigers at the Jim Corbett National Park, a part of the larger Corbett Tiger Reserve. As we entered the gates at the crack of dawn, the sky turned bluish purple. Once inside, the vegetation started getting dense. The eerie silence of the jungle was occasionally broken by the snorting of deer, hooting of langurs and grunting of vultures. But we had our eyes set on the majestic creature, the tiger. I will never  be able to forget that encounter with the big cat, which left an indelible impression of the aura, mystique, and beauty of this awe-inspiring orange-brown striped majestic creature on me.

“Tigers, except when wounded or when man-eaters, are on the whole very good-tempered,” said Colonel Edward James Jim Corbett, an Indian-born British hunter, naturalist and author. Jim Corbett was enchanted by the forests and the wildlife around his home in Kumaon region of Uttarakhand in India from an early age. During his life, Corbett tracked and shot about a dozen  man-eaters. Established in the year 1936 as Hailey National Park, India’s oldest and most prestigious national park was renamed as Jim Corbett National Park later on.

Interestingly, it was Kailash Sankhala, widely known as the Tiger Man of India who was the first conservationist to raise a voice to protect the tiger in the year 1956. He took this initiative in an era when hunting of tigers was still a practice. He spread the message of saving tigers that were bordering on the verge of extinction. Due to extensive hunting, the tiger population had started declining at an alarming rate. In 1973, Project Tiger was first launched at the Jim Corbett National Park with a mission to safeguard the endangered animal. Now, there are as many as 51 parks and sanctuaries involved in this project.

Why is International Tiger Day celebrated?

Tigers are found in the stretch ranging from the Russian Far East through parts of North Korea, China, India and Southeast Asia to the Indonesian island of Sumatra. Throughout this range, tigers are endangered. Global Tiger Day or International Tiger Day is held every year to raise awareness for tigers and their conservation. In 2010, at the Saint Petersburg Tiger Summit in Russia, it was decided to mark 29^th July as a day to raise public awareness for Tiger conservation.

Alarmingly, since the beginning of the 20^th century, tiger numbers have dropped by more than 95% to a measly 4,500. But there is some good news. Overall, the number of wild tigers is starting to rise. In India, Nepal, Bhutan, Russia, and China,  population of this majestic animal is either stable or increasing.

Why tigers are important?

The nature maintains a very fine ecological balance in which each creature plays a crucial role. As top predators, tigers play an important role in maintaining the food chain and the resulting harmony of the planet’s ecosystems. They prey on herbivores like deer, sambhar or cattle, and help to keep these animals which feed upon plants in a balance. Due to declining tiger numbers, the entire chain gets disrupted.

Threat to tigers

Tigers are facing unprecedented threat due to poaching, indiscriminatory killings and extensive encroachments by human populations. Rapid urbanization has led to loss of forests which is the natural habitat of the tiger. Industrialization and heavy vehicular load has led to rising pollution levels which have negatively impacted not just humans but other animal species too. The royal and majestic animal that the tiger is, seems to have fallen prey to the non-judicious activities of humans.

Unfortunately, our beautiful and finely balanced planet is suffering from ever expanding human activities. The flora and fauna are under severe threat. Days like International Tiger Day are a reminder to remain mindful of our activities and create further awareness about the already precious tiger population.