India's wild tiger population has risen above 3,000 according to a new census, boosting efforts to conserve the endangered species.
The Indian census found 3,167 tigers in the wild across the country, up from 2,967 reported in the last count four years ago.
Surveys are conducted using camera traps and computer programmes to individually identify each creature.
The rate of increase has slowed to less than 7% over the period, down from more than 30% in the previous four years.
The largest of all cats, tigers once roamed throughout central, eastern and southern Asia. Deforestation, poaching and human encroachment on habitats have devastated tiger populations across Asia.
In the past 100 years the tiger has lost more than 93% of its historic range and now only survives in scattered populations in 13 countries, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature.
Despite this, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the new count was a proud moment.
"Our family is expanding," he said at a ceremony in the southern city of Mysuru.
"This is a success not only for India but the entire world."
He added that India had been able to increase its tiger numbers as a result of "people's participation" and the country's "culture of conservation".
India is now home to 75% of the global tiger population and also the largest tiger range country in the world.
In 1900, more than 100,000 tigers were estimated to roam the planet, but that fell to a record low of 3,200 in 2010.
That year, India and 12 other countries with tiger populations signed an agreement to double their big cat numbers by 2022.
