Bengaluru, Jul 30 (IANS): With 'Tigers and their Habitat' as the theme to mark the World Tiger Day, Bengaluru's Bannerghatta Biological Park showcased 19 of its big cats on Thursday to create awareness about them among people.

"As World Tiger Day is celebrated on July 29 every year to create awareness about the status of the keystone species, we have treated hundreds of visitors by displaying 19 tigers housed in the zoo," an official said.

During the day-long event, sensory and play enrichment was provided for tiger Krishna. A bamboo play enrichment was hung from a tree and chicken scent trail was used to promote its exploratory behaviour.

"A cardboard box filled with green grass was presented to one of the tigers to explore and initiate flehmen reaction (an animal behaviour in which it curls back the upper lip) in the big cat," said the official.

"Awareness creation was conducted on the status of tigers in the wild, with display of census methods used to estimate wild tiger population and the importance of conserving its habitat for biodiversity preservation," the official added.

The role of zoos in tiger and biodiversity conservation was also highlighted, with ways to minimise human impact on tiger and its habitat by not creating demand for illegal wildlife trade.

"On spot drawing competition was conducted in which 55 students from SOS Children's Villages India took part and participated in a silent march across the zoo to spread the conservation message," added the official.

The 732-hectare 50-year-old biological park on the city's southern outskirts has 2,388 animals of 102 different species in its zoo, safari, butterfly park, and rescue centre.