India observes Global Tiger Day on July 29

"Awareness is key for tiger protection. Students can play a big role in it, " he said.

Since 2010, July 29 is observed as Global Tiger or International Tiger Day in order to raise awareness about tiger conservation.

It was on July 29, 2010, when the 13 tiger range countries came together to create Tx2 – the global goal to double the number of wild tigers by the year 2022.

According to World Wildlife Fund (WWF), there are now only 3,980 tigers in the wild.

Tweeted superstar Amitabh Bachhan, "T 2500 - International Tigers Day !! the population of tigers grows substantially since we started the campaign !!"

Protecting tiger habitat and ensuring the animals get enough food within their habitat are key to tiger conservation.

Although the picture overall may appear bleak, there are some success stories as well.

India's Sunderban Tiger Reserve, where men and animals live in close proximity and in a hostile terrain, some good news has emerged recently.

While fewer human lives are lost from tiger attacks now, the big cat population is not declining  in the India's Sundarbans National Park (SNP), the world’s biggest mangrove forest and genepool and UN heritage-listed natural wonder, say officials of the forest department in West Bengal.

The media quoting forest officials said that intensive patrolling is carried out in the buffer and core areas and at strategic locations in the Sunderbans National Park, which was brought under the Indian Wildlife Protection Act in 1973. The patrolling is as much to contain man from venturing into the restricted area as to ward off poachers-- a major threat to the striped beast.

Sand artist Sudarsan Pattanaik created a pretty sand art on Puri Beach in Odisha to commemorate the day.

Image: SudarsanPattnaik/Twitter