Tiger the magnificent tiger, Panthera tigris (Linnaeus), the national animal of India, is a rich-coloured well-striped animal with a short coat. The combination of grace, strength, agility and enormous power has earned the tiger great respect and high esteem. Out of the eight races of the species known, the Indian race,the Royal Bengal Tiger

is found throughout the country (except the north-western region) and also in the neighbouring countries like Nepal, Bhutan and Bangladesh. To check the dwindling population of tigers in India, which came down to just 1,827 in 1971, 'Project Tiger' was launched in April, 1973.

Since then, the tiger population has shown a gradual increase and the census of 1993 puts the tiger population of the country at 3,750. So far, 23 tiger reserves have been established in the country under this project, covering an area of 33,406 sq. km.