Indian Tiger Welfare Society, moved by the plight of the members of “Cat Family” like tigers due to shrinking habitat and large scale poaching, Indian Tiger Welfare was founded to spread awareness and work towards building safe haven for tigers that include Royal Bengal tiger, and Indian white tiger. The organisation shares the global conerns of protecting these endangered species and has joined hands with many such organisations who share the same conerns. The members at Indian Tiger Welfare Society strive continuously to provide carefree atmosphere to tigers in accordance with the goals of the organisation.

Scientists studying India’s wildlife have learned to expect the unexpected — from lizards that fly and elephants that swim to fish that walk and apes that sing. There are even dancing spiders. But in the INDIA: LAND OF THE TIGER, it is the world’s largest cat that attracts the lion’s share of the attention. Across Asia, from the chilly hillsides of southeastern Russia to the tropical forests of Sumatra, researchers estimate that fewer than 5,000 tigers roam today where up to 100,000 once lived. The largest remaining population of great orange-and-black cats is found in India. Here, up to 3,750 Bengal tigers, making up to two-thirds of the world’s total tiger population, still stalk the forests and wetlands.

Bengal tigers also appear in a mysterious white form. These animals are often mistaken for another species, however they are Bengal tigers. The white tigers are not albino, but they are lucistic. This mutation is similar to albinism because it prevents the production of melanin, the coloring pigment present in the skin and hair. However, lucistic tigers have blue eyes, unlike the pink eyes of an albino. These animals do occur in the wild, but their light coloration makes it difficult for them to survive to adult. They are easily seen by predators and make an easy meal. This keeps the tiger population orange due to Natural Selection. For more information on Evolution and the theory of Natural Selection

Bengal tigers are also called as Indian tiger, they are the most numerous in population than any other tiger subspecies. They were killed as a part of sport carried out by Indian and British royalties. There number declined at a fast rate. They are one of the only two species of cats that like water. At full running speed they reach speed of up to 60 kilometers per hour. They do not possess great stamina. The average tiger sleeps between 16 to 18 hours per day.

Bengal Tigers are fully grown at 2-3 years of age. Male reach weights of 200-230 kilograms and up to three metres in length. The females are 130-170 kilograms and up to 2.5 meters long. They have stripes all over their body. Their stripes are like fingerprints. No two are the same. The stripes are not only in the tigers fur, but are a pigmentation of the skin. They have a white spot on the back of their ears,whick looks like eyes.

The project was launched in 1973, and various tiger reserves were created in the country on a ‘core-buffer’ strategy. The core areas were freed from all sorts of human activities and the buffer areas were subjected to ‘conservation oriented land use’. Management plans were drawn up for each tiger reserve, based on the principles outlined below:

The main achievements of this project are excellent recovery of the habitat and consequent increase in the tiger population in the reserve areas, from a mere 268 in 9 reserves in 1972 to 1576 in 27 reserves in 2003. Tiger, being at the apex of the food chain, can be considered as the indicator of the stability of the eco-system. For a viable tiger population, a habitat should possess a good prey base, which in turn will depend on an undisturbed forest vegetation.
Thus, ‘Project Tiger’, is basically the conservation of the entire eco-system and apart from tigers, all other wild animals also have increased in number in the project areas. In the subsequent ‘Five Year Plans’, the main thrust was to enlarge the core and buffer zones in certain reserves, intensification of protection and eco development in the buffer zones of existing tiger reserves, creation of additional tiger reserves and strengthening of the research activities.

Project Tiger is a wildlife conservation project launched in India in 1972 to protect the depleting numbers of tigers in India. It was launched on April 1st, 1973. Today it is one of our most successful conservation ventures in the recent times. The project aims at tiger conservation in specially constituted ‘tiger reserves’, which are representative of various bio-geographical regions falling within our country. It strives to maintain a viable tiger population in the natural environment.