India now has 2,967 tigers and the growth in the 4th cycle of the Tiger Census has been a 33 per cent. PM Narendra Modi, who released the figures of the tiger estimation, said that India has achieved the target of doubling tiger population four years before the deadline.

PM Modi said at the release of All India Tiger Estimation Report 2018 on Monday, "Today we reaffirm our commitment towards protecting tigers. Results of the just declared Tiger Census would make every Indian happy. Nine years ago it was decided in St. Petersburg that target of doubling tiger population will be 2022. We completed this target 4 years early."

According to the census, Madhya Pradesh saw the highest number of tigers at 526, closely followed by Karnataka at 524 and Uttarakhand at number 3 with 442 tigers.

The Prime Minister said on a lighter note, "The story that started with Ek Tha Tiger and then continued with Tiger Zinda Hai, should not stop there. It should be baaghon mein bahaar hai."

The story that started with @EkThaTiger and then continued with @TigerZindaHai , should not stop there. It should be "Baaghon mein bahaar hai" : PM @narendramodi on a lighter note on the occasion of #InternationalTigerDay @PrakashJavdekar @moefcc pic.twitter.com/p04M8lIbaq PIB India (@PIB_India) July 29, 2019

Chhattisgarh and Mizoram saw a decline in their tiger numbers while tiger numbers in Odisha remained constant. All other states witnessed a positive trend.

Launching the census report, PM Modi observed that India is now one of the safest habitats in the world for tigers.

Last week, a group of villagers in Uttar Pradesh's Pilibhit beat up an adult tigress and killed it. The tigress had on Wednesday attacked and injured nine villagers while they were working in an agriculture field in Deurea range of the Pilibhit tiger reserve.

A video of incident went viral on the internet showing the group of villagers mercilessly beating the tigress with sticks and rods till until the animal collapsed.

The tiger census 2014 pegged the total number of striped big cats in the country at 2226 while the 2010 census put the figure at 1706 and the 2006 version at 1411, indicating that tiger numbers have been increasing continuously.