Tigers are one of the world's endangered species.
India, however, is working hard to change that classification for its national animal.
In just four years, its tiger population has grown from 2,226 to 2,976.
In 2010, India's tiger population was down to 1,400.
India is now one of the safest places in the world for tigers.
"Nine years ago, it was decided in Saint Petersburg (Russia) that the target of doubling the tiger population would be 2022," Prime Minister Narendra Modi said Monday at the release of the All India Tiger Estimation Report 2018. "We in India completed this target four years in advance."
"It's an historic achievement," Modi said of his country's growing tiger count.
"But we still have a long way to go to secure a long-term future for wild tigers," said Belinda Wright, founder of the Wildlife Protection Society of India. She warned that one of the biggest challenges against the tigers in India is the country's massive human population and the inevitable conflict between animal and man.
