India: A Tiger’s Playground by Keya Mirani October, 2022

When you first think of India, you may think of the food or the people or seeing the Taj Mahal. But with all the things that make up India, it’s easy to forget that there’s an abundance of wildlife that calls India home. Among these animals are Bengal tigers.

Mythology

Throughout Hindu mythology, tigers represent courage and strength. These ideals are shown very clearly in the goddess Durga who can be seen riding fearlessly into battle on a tiger. She is depicted with many arms and in each hand, she carries a weapon.

The stories say that all of the gods came together to create the goddess. Because of this, her powers are a combination of all the gods. Durga means ‘fortress’ and it’s for this reason that she is called the protector but we can all play a role in protecting the tigers.

Project Tiger

As an apex predator, tigers are incredibly important for maintaining the biodiversity in India. Sadly, from 1875 to 1925 around 80,000 tigers have been killed to make medicines and to keep the beautiful furs. In 1973 things started to turn around. NGOs, the Indian government, and citizens began to take an active role in tiger conservation. Project Tiger is an effort led by the Indian government to create national reserves so their natural habitat would be protected.

Commitment Tx2

In 2010, all the countries that have wild tigers made a commitment called the Commitment Tx2. The goal was to double the number of tigers in the wild by 2022. These dates were chosen to follow the Chinese lunar calendar since both 2010 and 2022 are tiger years.

Success! India doubled its tiger population ahead of the 2022 deadline.

The world also gained a new international holiday following this commitment. International Tiger Day has been celebrated on July 29 every year since 2010.

Tiger Reserves

Today, we have six million acres of protected land. In India alone there are 53 tiger reserves.

One of the oldest and largest tiger reserves in the country is the Kanha Tiger Reserve. Many people say that this is also the finest national park in India. It can be found in the state of Madhya Pradesh in central India.

Ranthambore National Park in Rajasthan is a must see place for those of you interested in these big cats. It is known for being the best place to see tigers in their natural habitat.

Population

Continued conservation efforts include the tiger census completed every four years. The 2018 survey concluded that there are nearly 3,000 tigers in India. This is 70% of the global population and the largest of all wild tiger populations in the world. There are around 3,900 tigers worldwide. To keep up with the latest tiger count, the next census is set to be released in January of 2023.

The best part of all the work being done is that it’s had a major positive impact. The numbers are continuing to rise.

TOF Tigers

A growing source of funding for tiger conservation is tourism. TOFTigers is an organization that has been encouraging sustainable ecotourism since 2004. They work in the local communities to achieve sustainable accommodations and nature-friendly experiences for tourists and Indian natives alike. They directly help the tigers as the money raised goes towards increasing the protected lands and other conservation projects.

Fun Facts

A tiger’s stripes act as camouflage, imitating the tall grasses and trees. These stripes are actually found on both the tiger’s skin and fur.

Tigers have been around for a very long time. They first appeared around two million years ago.

Tigers, like most cats, are very vocal creatures. Each sound they make has a distinct meaning.

The oldest tiger in the world was 25 year old Flavel. He lived out his days in a Tampa zoo after being rescued from a circus.

Tigers are normally solitary animals. If for some reason they find themselves in a large group, they are known as a ‘streak’ or an ‘ambush’.

Originally there were eight subspecies of tigers. Over the years, three have gone extinct.

Did you know that the tiger is India’s national animal? To celebrate Maatir’s love for tigers, we feature these incredible animals on travel pouches, totes, caps, magnets, tees, and sweatshirts. Let them be a reminder of your own strength and courage as you sport this magnificent creature.

TIGERS

MYTHOLOGY

Location: India

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