New Delhi, Jul 30 (IANS): Veteran Congress leader Dr Karan Singh, who started the Project Tiger in 1973, expressed delight on Tuesday at the tiger numbers reaching 3,000 in the country, and said that all the Prime Ministers from Indira Gandhi to Narendra Modi should be congratulated for the achievement.

In a statement issued here, Singh said that as chairman of the Indian Board for Wild Life in 1969, he had persuaded Indira Gandhi to change the national animal from the Lion to the Tiger and also conceived Project Tiger under the chairmanship of the Prime Minister.

"In 1973, I formally inaugurated Project Tiger in the Corbett National Park," he said adding that the increase in the number of tigers "is a tribute to thousands of forest guards working in the tiger projects and hundreds of project directors over the decades who have laboured to protect this magnificent animal".

He said all those concerned need to be congratulated from Prime Minister Indira Gandhi down to Prime Minister Modi.