International Tiger Day 2020: 10 Facts about the Big Cats

International Tiger Day 2020: Every year 29 July is dedicated to raising the awareness and support across the globe to help conserve the tiger. The International Tiger Day was first established in 2010 at Saint Petersburg Tiger Summit in Russia which is also known as Global Tiger Day.

A hundred years back, there were less than 1,00,000 tigers in Asia. Today, the figure has dropped radically to 3,900 in the wild. Last year, we celebrated when the Tiger census was revealed highlighting India's achievement of around 33% increase in the tiger population.

The main issues that continue to threaten the future of the Tigers in our country are stealing, destruction of habitat, man-animal conflict, and diminishing prey base. As the size of wildlife reserves is reducing, the dispute of tigers with humans in adjoining habitats problem is arising.

The facts about the big cats on international tiger day:

1. Tigers are the giant wild cats in the world. An adult tiger weighs up to 363kg. They are the third-largest carnivore on land after polar bears and brown bears.

2. Tiger's natural habitats are Tropical rainforests, evergreen forests, temperate forests, mangrove swamps, grasslands and savannas.

3. Tigers like water. They are excellent swimmers and more often spend their time in pools or streams.

4. Tigers are the only cat species that are completely stripped. They even have stripes on their skin.

5. When it comes to female tigers, they are lovely. After a gestation period of more than three months, they give birth to two-three blind and helpless cubs and take care of them till they become independent at two years of age.

6. Unlike lions, Tigers do not live in permanent groups. They live private lives except when females are raising cubs. The correct name for the group of tigers is a "streak" or "ambush".

7. The average lifespan of a wild tiger is 10 - 15 years. Sometimes they are known to live up to 26 years in the wild.

8. There are five subspecies of tiger: Bengal, Indochinese, South China, Sumatran and Siberian. Miserably, three of them have become vanished – Caspian, Bali and Javan.

9. The fossil remains of tigers found in China are supposed to be 2 million years old.

10. Less than a century back, tigers were all over Asia. However, the population is at risk due to hunting and habitat loss.