Mysuru:  International Tiger Day, also known as Global Tiger Day, is celebrated on July 29 every year to promote the protection of natural habitat of tigers and to increase awareness about tiger conservation. 

In this backdrop, the Mysuru Zoo has erected boards containing information about tigers and fun facts about the National Animal near the enclosure of tigers to educate the visitors from 10.30 am to 5.30 pm today.

The celebrations aimed at promoting a global system for protecting the natural habitat of tigers, to raise public awareness and to support tiger conservation.

Mysuru Zoo Education Officer Guruprasad explained about the habitat of tigers, their behaviour, lifespan etc., to the visitors, who gave a patient hearing to gain more knowledge about the feline.

Zoo Executive Director Ajit M. Kulkarni, speaking to Star of Mysore, said that Mysuru Zoo houses seven tigers (four male and three female) and added that all the tigers were healthy.

He further said that visitors to the Zoo today were being educated about tigers and the need to conserve and protect them. “If we give more importance to tiger conservation, the forests would be saved as both of them were inter-linked.”

Out of the seven tigers in Mysuru Zoo, there are three white tigers. One tigress named Chamundi has been brought from Bannerghatta National Park in Bengaluru for treatment and will be sent back after it recovers.

Apart from seven tigers in Mysuru Zoo, there are seven more at Chamundi Animal Rescue and Rehabilitation Centre on the city outskirts in Koorgalli which were either rescued or captured from various forests and villages in forest borders.