Project Tiger The Government of India has taken a pioneering initiative for conserving its national animal, the tiger, by launching the ‘Project Tiger’ in 1973. From 9 tiger reserves since its formative years, the Project Tiger coverage has increased to 50 at present, spread out in 18 of our tiger range states. This amounts to around 2.21% of the geographical area of our country. The tiger reserves are constituted on a core/buffer strategy. The core areas have the legal status of a national park or a sanctuary, whereas the buffer or peripheral areas are a mix of forest and non-forest land, managed as a multiple use area. The Project Tiger aims to foster an exclusive tiger agenda in the core areas of tiger reserves, with an inclusive people oriented agenda in the buffer. Project Tiger is an ongoing Centrally Sponsored Scheme of the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change, providing central assistance to the tiger States for tiger conservation in designated tiger reserves. The National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) is a statutory body of the Ministry, with an overarching supervisory / coordination role, performing functions as provided in the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972. Coinciding with the Global Tiger Day, the Honourable Prime Minister on July 29, declared results of the 4th cycle of the All India Tiger Estimation to the nation, proudly announcing India’s tiger numbers at 2967. Chhattisgarh and Mizoram saw a decline in their tiger numbers while tiger’s numbers in Odisha remained constant. All other States witnessed a positive trend. 1. The protected tiger reserves in India accounts for ……….. % of total geographical area of the country. a. 2.12 b. 2.21 c. 21.1 d. 2.12 2. In which state is the Jim Corbett National Park Located? a. Chhattisgarh b. Karnataka c. Gujarat d. Uttarakhand 3. State whether the statements are true or false: a) The buffer zone of the two areas of a designated tiger reserve aims to fostering the tiger oriented programme only. b)The core zone deal with exclusively tiger oriented agendas 4. How is the census for the tiger done? 5. The story of project tiger narrates a positive trend in conserving and increasing the number of tigers in the country? What according to you could be the cause of decline in the two states and rise in most of the states?​