A stunning photo of a tigress walking through a forest with her five cubs is doing the rounds on social media for more reasons than one.
It was shared by Parveen Kaswan, who works for the Indian Forest Service and is a member of the International Union for Conservation of Nature.
After immense efforts to help the species bounce back from being on the verge of extinction, this tigress is one of the first to be spotted with five cubs – two more than the average litter, which usually comprises of three cubs.
Sharing the photo on Twitter, Kaswan wrote:
This is magical picture. Count the cubs with tigress. I know for a reason how few people will be elated after seeing this. Efforts are helping in making this species bounce back from verge of extinction. PC Siddharth Singh. Magical Terai.
According to the BBC, the tiger population in India has been consistently growing in recent years, with the figure rising nearly a third from 2,226 to 2,967 from 2014 to 2019.
In July last year, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said his country is ‘now one of the biggest and most secure habitats of the tiger’. At the time, it was estimated that India is home to around 70% of all the tigers in the world.
This is a huge conservation success for the country after 80,000 tigers were believed to be killed in India between 1875 and 1925 alone, as a result of bounty and sports hunting.
In 1972 a strict wildlife protection law was implemented, making it almost completely illegal to kill or capture wild animals, even if they’re regarded as ‘problem animals’. Indian officials also invested in more forest guards and improved protection reserves after pressure from conservationists all over the globe.
Fortunately, from around 2006, their efforts seemed to take hold and a healthy uptick in tiger numbers began.
However, there has also been a rise in human-tiger conflict in recent years, largely due to there being too few forests to sustain the number of tigers living in the country, unless more reserves are added.
Hopefully India will continue with its commitment to growing and protecting tigers in a way which won’t create future conflict.
Kaswan’s stunning photo would suggest the country is so far doing a great job at creating a safe environment for this beautiful species to thrive.
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Emma Rosemurgey is an NCTJ trained Journalist who started her career by producing The Royal Rosemurgey newspaper in 2004, which kept her family up to date with the goings on of her sleepy north east village. She graduated from the University of Central Lancashire in Preston and started her career in regional newspapers before joining Tyla (formerly Pretty 52) in 2017, and progressing onto UNILAD in 2019.