Occasionally, scientists and conservationists played the numbergame by providing population figures which suited to their academic greatness. Status of snow leopard is not known but there is no sign of any significant decline of its number in high altitudes of the Himalayas. Similarly, out of about 20,000 Asiatic leopards in about two and half dozen countries in Asia at present, 15,000- 16,000 individual leopards are estimated in India alone. The number of other sub-species of the tiger in other countries in Asia is very small and none of them has over 500 individuals. At present, over two-thirds of the global population of the tiger is found in 17 States in India. They disappeared from the northern and western parts of the country.

The Asiatic lion, which had extensive distribution in West Asia to India, has a restricted population in the Gir forests in Gujarat. Their survival depends on their conservation here in India where they still have viable populations despite high human population. All four big cats have disappeared from their previous habitats in Asia or are surviving in restricted habitats in small numbers. About 300 lions were hunted around Delhi during 1957-58 a few years after independence. According to official records, over 80,000 tigers, more than 150,000 leopards and 200,000 wolves were slaughtered between 18. It were the invaders, who brought a culture of reckless hunting, impacting the abundance of mega-mammals. India’s wildlife richness is incomparable in the world. Clouded leopard, a cat occurring in the north-east of India, is also considered a big cat by some naturalists but it falls slightly short of the minimum size of the big cat as its average weight is just below 20 kg.

But one of them - hunting leopard - exterminated from the Indian sub-continent in the early 1950s. Of the seven big cats - lion, tiger, jaguar, puma (mountain lion), common leopard, snow leopard and cheetah (hunting leopard), five were found in India. India, a mega-biodiversity country with diverse climate and natural habitats in the world, is the last hope for the survival of several mega-mammals, including big cats on planet Earth. Besides Project Tiger, our achievements were also possible because wildlife conservation is deep rooted in the Indian culture and tradition

Mountain lion in hindi