MYSORE: Arunachal Pradesh Environment & Forest Minister Mama Natung, along with officers of the state’s forest department attended the International Tiger Conference here in Karnataka on Monday.
The three-day conference was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, commemorating 50 years of ‘Project Tiger’, on Sunday.
Besides state ministers of environment, forest & climate changes (EF&CC), the inaugural function was attended by Union Minister of EF&CC Bhupender Yadav, MoS for MoEF&CC Ashwani Kumar Choube, and national and international delegates.
Natung led the Arunachal delegation along with IFS officers Millo Tasser and Damodhar AT, and other members.
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This international conference is being organized by the National Tiger Conservation Authority, in association with the Karnataka Forest department, for the cause of ‘Save Tiger’.
During the inaugural programme, the Prime Minister released ‘India’s Status of Tiger Report-2023?, which is prepared through the All India Tiger Estimation census’ mega exercise after every four years.
This is the 5th such cyclic report, in which the Prime Minister has announced that the present number of tiger population in India’s forests, for the first time, has crossed the 3,000 mark and reached 3,167, which is the highest ever tiger population reported in India.
The tiger population during the census 2018 report was 2,967.
At present, India has 53 tiger reserves housing more than 75 per cent of the world’s tiger population, thereby leading the tiger conservation initiative in the world.
Arunachal has also shown significant improvement in protection of tigers and their habitats.
The Arunachal delegation, led by Natung, also visited the world-famous Bandipur Tiger Reserve.
Bandipur houses more than 100 tigers in an area of 872 sq kms.
The team interacted with Bandipur Tiger Reserve Field Director Dr Ramesh Kumar, the Bandipur Special Tiger Protection Force, and the local ecotourism management community to learn their best practices for replicating in the protected areas of Arunachal Pradesh.
The delegation also visited the Mysore zoo, which is one of the largest and self-sustained zoo in India.
It houses more than 250 species of animals and birds, including exotic species.
Natung and his team interacted with Mysore Zoo Executive Director Ajith Kulkarni, other senior officers, and the veterinary doctors there.
At Natung’s request, they assured to provide assistance and technical support to the Itanagar Biological Park.