In order to raise awareness about one of the majestic species of planet Earth, Global Tiger Day is being celebrated today. The celebration aims to highlight the importance of this feline predator in balancing the food chain and ecosystem as well as the plight they are facing. T

igers are the only feline members to be listed as endangered in International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red Data Book list. India currently harbors almost 75 percent of the world’s wild tiger population. With significant changes in the spatial patterns of tiger occurrence and an increase in unique tiger sightings from 2,461 in 2018 to 3,080 in 2022, now more than 3/4th of the tiger population is found within protected areas. A data analysis, done by the Wildlife Institute of India estimates the upper limit of the tiger population to be 3,925 and the average number to be around 3,682 tigers, reflecting a positive growth trend.