PM Modi launches International Big Cats Alliance (IBCA) for conservation of 7 big cats

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the program ‘Commemoration of 50 years of Project Tiger’ on April 09, 2023 at Mysuru University in, Karnataka.
• The year 2023 marks 50 years of the Project Tiger.
• The Project Tiger was launched in November 1973 as tiger conservation programme by the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.
• International Big Cats Alliance (IBCA)
  • PM Modi launched the International Big Cats Alliance (IBCA) in Karnataka.
  • IBCA aims to focus on the protection and conservation of seven major big cats of the world, in collaboration with countries harbouring these species..
  • These include Tiger, Lion, Leopard, Snow Leopard, Puma, Jaguar and Cheetah.
  • The IBCA will provide assured support over five years with guaranteed funding of over Rs 800 crore.
  • The alliance membership will be open to 97 “range” countries, which contain the natural habitat of these big cats
• Other launches that took place at the event includes:
  • Release of the publications – ‘Amrit Kaal Ka Vision For Tiger Conservation’, a summary report of the 5th cycle of Management Effectiveness Evaluation of Tiger Reserves.
  • Release of the summary report of All India Tiger Estimation (5th cycle).
  • Release of a commemorative coin on the completion of 50 years of Project Tiger. 
• Other facts
  • India is home to 75% of the world’s tiger population in the 75th year of Indian independence.
  • The tiger reserves in India cover 75,000 square kilometers of land
  • In the past 10-12 years, the tiger population in the country has increased by 75 percent.