LUCKNOW, July 30 -- Apart from increasing the number of tigers, the human-wildlife conflict has to be stopped, said minister of state (independent charge), forest, environment and climate change department, UP Arun Kumar Saxena while speaking at an event held to mark International Tiger Day here at Nawab Wajid Ali Shah Zoological Park on Tuesday. He emphasised on the use of AI for this purpose. "With the support of the government, the forest area has also increased. The natural habitat of wild animals should not be reduced. Illegal deforestation has to be stopped, trees should not be cut under any circumstances," he said. "Tiger is our national animal. Conservation of tigers is not possible alone unless there is cooperation from the public. Tiger friends play an important role in this, he said." This year the theme of International Tiger Day is "Human-Tiger Co-existence". Special guest KP Malik, minister of state (independent charge), forest, environment and climate change department, UP, along with officers / employees of Forest Department and Zoological Park, Lucknow and students of various schools were present. Welcoming all the guests, Lalit Kumar Verma, additional principal chief conservator of forests, Project Tiger Uttar Pradesh, Lucknow said that the first Tiger Day was celebrated in St Petersburg, in which the whole world was given the target of doubling the number of tigers along with their conservation. The short film prepared by Pilibhit Tiger Reserve based on tigers was released by the chief guest. The book "Tiger's Rahasmayi Duniya" written by Manish Singh, deputy director, Pilibhit Tiger Reserve and Rakesh Kumar Singh, Deputy Chief Veterinary Officer, Animal Husbandry Department, Uttar Pradesh was released by the guests. Anuradha Vemuri, Principal Chief Conservator of Forests, Wildlife, UP also addressed the gathering and appealed to create maximum awareness among the general public regarding tiger conservation and make active contributions. Bahraich International Tiger Day was celebrated with great enthusiasm at Katarniaghat Wildlife Division under the guidance of divisional forest officer (DFO) Suraj Kumar....