Global Tiger Day 2025- What you can do to protect the Kings of the Jungle

When I was 5 years old, in 2016, my parents, our very close family friends, and I went on a trip to Ranthambore. We stayed next to the Ranthambore National Park, a beautiful conservation sanctuary, home to one of this planet's ultimate predators. We went on a safari ride, where we got to observe the park, without disturbing the tranquility and sacred ecosystem created there. After a while on the jeep, we saw an absolutely magnificent sight, as a majestic creature prowled on the lush foothills of its kindgom, came out of the dense forest and face-to-face with us. It was the apex predator of the continent of Asia, the largest big cat in the world, Panthera tigris, the Bengal tiger.

Although lions are often coined "Kings of the Jungle," they almost always live in savannas, grasslands, open woodlands or scrublands in Africa, and the only forest they are found in is the Gir forest in India. Tigers, however, dominate tropical and temperate forests, mountainous regions, and even mangrove swamps across Asia, all the way from the east of Russia, to the southern Indonesian island of Sumatra. They are the apex predators of every forest they inhabit, earning this title.

Male Bengal tigers can range upto a whopping 10 feet in length, and weigh upto 250+ kilograms. They mostly hunt deer, wild boar, and gaur, which are found in abundance in their habitats, and sometimes even nilgai, langurs and porcupines.

Although they may just be seen as ordinary creatures, tigers play an extremely crucial role to maintain the balance of their ecosystems, and are vital for the livelihoods of many species, including ours. They keep the population of herbivores such as deer in check, mitigating overgrazing and maintaing the health of vegetation. They are called umbrella species, because while keeping these ecosystems and forests healthy and diverse, they support the life of many animals, and conservation efforts towards them will indirectly benefits other species by preserving their habitat.

However, it breaks my heart to say that 95% of the entire wild tiger population has been lost in the last century due to human activity, development, and hunting. The average number of tigers in India is only 3,682, and the global wild tiger population has declined at a devastating rate, with less than 5,600 tigers remaining today. They are classified as endangered on the IUCN Red List, facing a high risk of extinction in the wild. This is due to habitat loss caused by climate change, human-wildlife conflict, and poaching. This is a shocking revelation, considering the true negative extent of our actions on this wonderful and diverse planet.

Despite this terrible situation, each one of us can still make a difference to increase the tiger population and bring back balance to their ecosystem.

Firstly, we can support organisations dedicated to tiger conservation and protection with resources, and spread awareness about their efforts. Organisations like the World Wildlife Fund, Wildlife Protection Society of India, National Tiger Conservation Authority in India, and many more, are dedicated to focusing on multiple aspects of tiger conservation, including habitat restoration, combatting poaching, and mitigating the effects of climate change. Organisations like these around the world can actually make an enormous difference, as the world tiger population has increased by 74% from 2010 to 2024 due to conservation efforts, highlighting the importance of working together to protect wildlife.

Secondly, we can all spread awareness about increasing law enforcement to protect tigers and other species from illegal poaching. At an individual level, each of us can campaign for the safety of tigers, and help protect their ecosystems from collapsing. We can spread the word through our various social channels and in our communities. We all must, at any cost, say NO to any illegal animal goods. It is unimaginably cruel and extremely threatening for the safety of our diverse forests and animals, so we must take a stance against illegal trade, and report it to our authorities.

Lastly, the effects of climate change are also being felt by tigers, just like millions of other species on the planet. Climate change is destroying their habitats, and significantly contributes to wildfires, leaving many tigers without the shelter, prey, and stable ecosystem they require to thrive. We can reduce our contribution to global climate change at an individual level, by monitoring our energy consumption in small ways. We must try and bring renewable energy to our homes, such as through the form of solar panels powering our electricity during the day. We must also switch to sustainable modes of transport, through ways such as cycling and walking to places, as talked about in my article "Revolutionizing Transport."We can also prioritize eating whole, natural foods, reducing the heavy amount of resources and industrialization required for processed goods.

All of these small things we can do in our lives, can help to preserve these vital, beautiful, majestic gems of nature, protect the diversity of our forests, swamps, and grasslands, and maintain their ecosytems to provide a healthy, safe, balanced and flourishing life to tigers across the world. A very happy International Tiger Day to everyone!