Project Tiger: How the Big Cats are counted

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will release the latest figures of India's big cat population as the country celebrates 50 years of Project Tiger on April 9. The tiger population in India has been rising since the launch of the half-a-century-long conservation campaign across the country.

Tigers form the top predators in the ecosystem and their role in the balancing act of nature is critical. India launched Project Tiger in 1973 to begin a concerted effort toward saving the big cat, which had been facing extinction at the time. Over the last 50 years, their numbers have gone up thanks to concentrated efforts in the campaign. According to the 2018 tiger population survey -- the last such carried out -- India had 2,461 individual tigers.