Project Tiger is a wildlife conservation project launched in India in 1972 to protect the depleting numbers of tigers in India. It was formed in 1972 and launched on April 1st, 1973.
This was a pet project of Indira Gandhi, the then Prime Minister of India. Because of this, it is suspected that number of tigers might have been exaggerated until her death in 1984. The funding and political support for Project Tiger has also reduced after her death. Reports of widespread poaching of tigers in two of the premier Tiger Reserves of North India - Sariska and Ranthambore have prompted a high level inquiry by CBI, and also the constitution of a National level supervisory committee to supervise the implementation of the project. Senior wildlife scientists and conservationists have been chosen for this committee to be headed by the Prime Minister himself.
Today, there are 23 Project Tiger reserves in India, covering an area of 33,000 km².
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