Nations pledge to double number of tigers by 2022

New Delhi, July 18 (PTI) To save tigers from extinction,
13 nations which are abode of the endangered big cats have
pledged to get their act together to double by the year 2022
the number of the felines from the present 3,200 in the wild.
A decision in this regard was taken at a recent meeting
in Bali, Indonesia, by the countries along with the World
Bank's Global Tiger Initiative (GTI) to develop a concrete
plan to reinvigorate the tiger count.
The plan is expected to serve as a road map for tiger
conservation to be adopted by world leaders at the first
global summit on tigers this September in St Petersburg,
Russia to be attended by Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, India,
Indonesia, Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Thailand
and Vietnam besides the host country.
The striped cats, whose count has declined by a whopping
97 per cent from over a lakh in the 20th century, continue to
face threats due to increasing demand for their skin and body
parts in the global market.
The officials at the meet agreed to prepare a national
action plan comprising a Global Tiger Recovery Programme for
adoption at the Tiger Summit, according to a statement from
the International Fund for Animal Welfare.
It includes providing skills and equipment to rangers and
law enforcement officials to combat poaching and illegal
trafficking of tigers.
The global blueprint for tiger protection would be backed
by joint commitments to better conserve key tiger habitats
across range countries and to step up enforcement to eradicate
poaching and end trafficking in tiger body parts. PTI AJ
MRD