The Indian tiger population has increased by 30% since 2014, according to encouraging figures released by the Indian Government on Monday.

The number of wild tigers has risen to 2,967 from 2,226, largely thanks to a nationwide conservation push.

Indian conservationists estimated the new figures could mean India is home to 70% of the global tiger population, in what Prime Minister Narendra Modi described as a "historic achievement."

It would mean India is on-track to honour its promise in the St Petersburg Declaration of 2010 to double its Big Cat population by 2022. As recently as 2010, the number of Indian tigers had plummeted to 1,706.

Studies have identified poaching and heightened human-tiger contact as the major causes of tiger deaths in India.

India’s human population has skyrocketed by 50% in the last 20 years, leading to greater encroachment into tiger habitats to create new homes and farmland. In some cases, tigers found exploring the new human settlements on their old land have been killed.