India’s tiger population has seen an incredible recovery over recent years, more than doubling since 2003. 

The country’s prime minister has announced numbers have reached almost 3,000 – which he described as a ‘historic achievement’. 

The figure means numbers have more than doubled in the past 15 years, when there were just 1,400 tigers, and a sharp rise from 2,226 tigers in 2014.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Monday: “With around 3,000 tigers, India has emerged as one of the biggest and safest habitats for them in the world.”

He explained that the number of protected areas for tigers rose from 692 in 2014 to 860 in 2018.

In addition, the number of ‘community reserves’ for tigers rose from 43 to 100.

A report titled Tiger Status In India 2018 explained that 60 percent of the world’s tigers now live in India, making the country crucial for the species’ survival. 

Belinda Wright, founder of the Wildlife Protection Society of India said in a statement that India ‘still has a long way to go to secure a long-term future for wild tigers’.

But she did celebrate the success of schemes introduced to protect tigers. 

Tigers have increasingly come under threat from humans in recent years as India’s cities and villages expand into their territory. 

According to official statistics, one person is killed every day by a tiger or elephant in India. 

Ms Wright told Sky News there are ‘huge linear intrusions, including highways, railways, electric power line and canals through protected areas, as this leads to increased human-tiger conflict’.

In addition to sanctuaries, it is now a crime to kill the endangered animal in India.

• Read: Australia’s Network Of Animal Sanctuaries Has Saved 13 Endangered Species From Extinction

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