International Tiger Day 2021: Theme, History, Significance and Quotes

Bengaluru, July 29: International Tiger Day 2021 also know as World Tiger Day has been held on the 29th July every year since 2010 when it was first created at the Saint Petersburg Tiger Summit.

This was done to raise awareness of the decline of wild tiger numbers, leaving them on the brink of extinction and to encourage the celebration around the important work of Tiger conservation.

In 1973, Project Tiger was started in India which was a unique plan to save tigers on the planet. Since it formative years there were 9 tiger reserves but the Tiger Project coverage has increased to 50.

But according to WWF around 3,900 wild tigers are left in the world. Since the beginning of the 20th century, over 95% of the world's tiger population is lost. It is said that across Asia, the snaring crisis poses a grave threat to wild tigers.

International Tiger Day: History

World Tiger Day was first observed in the year 2010 at the Saint Petersburg Tiger Summit in Russia. Around thirteen tiger range countries came together and decided to double the number of wild tigers by the end of the year 2022.

Importance

World Tiger Day plays a key role in spreading awareness about tiger conservation. According to World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), there may have been 100,000 tigers at the beginning of the 20th century. The number was drastically reduced to 3,200 in the year 2010. Therefore, it becomes extremely important to save the wild cats.

Theme

The theme for this year International Tiger Day is- "Their Survival is in our hands".

Quotes

A healthy tiger population is an indicator of sustainable development in the 13 tiger range countries." - Midori Paxton

We must protect tigers from extinction. Our planet's future depends on it." - Michelle Yeoh

"When a man wants to murder a tiger he calls it sport, when a tiger wants to murder him he calls it ferocity." - George Bernard Shaw

"If you rile a tiger, he's going to show his claws." - Rob James-Collier

"Tyger! Tyger! burning bright, in the forest of the night, What immortal hand or eye, dare frame thy fearful symmetry?" - William Blake