India is committed to ensuring safe habitats for its tigers and nurturing a tiger-friendly ecosystem, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said, pointing out that India is home to over 70 per cent of the world's tiger population. In a series of tweets on the occasion of International Tiger Day, Modi also reiterated India's strategy of tiger conservation attaches topmost importance to involving local communities.

"We are also inspired by our centuries-old ethos of living in harmony with all flora and fauna with whom we share our great planet," Modi said.

India is home to 51 tiger reserves spread across 18 states and the last tiger census of 2018 showed a rise in the tiger population, he said. There are an estimated 3000 tigers in the country, which has almost doubled in 15 years, a conservation effort that has been universally recognised. 

Modi also pointed out that India achieved the target of doubling of tiger population four years ahead of schedule of the St. Petersburg Declaration on tiger conservation, NDTV said.

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said that his state has recorded the second-highest density of tigers in the country. "Tiger is our National Animal. It helps maintain a balance in the ecosystem. Assam has a sizeable tiger population, with Kaziranga NP recording the second-highest density of tigers in the country," he tweeted.

International Tiger Day is marked on July 29 with an aim to promote a global system for protecting the natural habitats of tigers and to raise public awareness and support for tiger conservation issues.(SAM)