India has around 3,000 tigers

For 22 years vet, Akhilesh Mishra has been treating animals at Pench National Park in Madhya Pradesh state in India.

He does not hesitate to name the tiger as his favourite animal. "They are so magnificent and beautiful. I just need to feel their soft skin to feel relaxed" he says. "!When I treat an injured tiger and then they are able to go back to forest, it is an out of this world experience."

A tiger's life is not easy, he says, particularly for the females: "For me the tigress is much stronger than the male tiger. She fights so fearlessly for her cubs. She is a goddess - ready to take on a huge tiger who tries to harm her cubs."