International Tiger Day: What lies ahead for the big cat in the wild, wild world

He is two months old. He is hungry. Scared. He is wondering when his mother is coming back.

Gunshot echoes.

Maybe she is not.

And then, an ominous message that flashes across the TV screen, "Just 1411 left".


Back in 2010, the distressed furry little face of Stripey, the tiger cub in Aircel's famous ad campaign "Save Our Tigers" brought the entire nation together.


Eight years on, that crisis seems to have been averted. The concentrated efforts of independent activists, government policies, amendments to the Wild Life Protection Act, and rising awareness have helped push the number of the wild cats to 2,226 in 2014, when the last tiger census was held.

Read more...