“As per the Tiger count conducted in 2014, India had 2226 Tigers. In the last two years, the number has been rising and according to rough estimates, there are nearly 2 500 Tigers in the country,” he said.

Javadekar said that the ministry is coming up with a policy to incentivize project proponents to give land for compensatory afforestation in Tiger corridors.

India is home the largest number of tiger population in the world.

“We have started a unique experiment in new Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for orphaned Tiger cubs. This has started yielding results and four such orphaned Tigers have been released back in the wild after proper care in ‘in situ’ enclosures,” he said.

Speaking at the inaugural function, Prime Minister Narendra Modi underlined the need for collaboration between governments at the highest level to check trafficking in body parts of the wildcat.

Modi said forests are inseparable from wild animals and both are mutually complementary.

"Destruction of one leads to destruction of the other. This is an important cause of climate change which is now affecting us adversely in many ways. This is a global phenomenon which all of us are grappling with," he said.

Highlighting that tiger habitats have reduced drastically across tiger range countries, Modi said the situation has been aggravated by the ongoing trafficking in body parts and derivatives of this magnificient animal.

"A major threat to the tiger is the demand for its body parts. The forest and its wild denizens are an open treasury which cannot be locked up. It is painful to learn about trafficking of body parts of tigers and other big cats. We need to collaborate at the highest levels of governments to address the serious issues,” he said.

"In India too we have been facing the challenge of poaching. The positive side for us in India is that the majority of people respect trees, animals, forest rivers. They consider earth as mother and the universe as one family," he said.