NEW DELHI (AP) – India’s latest tiger census shows a sharp increase in the number of the endangered cats in the wild, raising hopes that conservation efforts are working, officials said Tuesday.

The census conducted in 2014 found at least 2,226 tigers in forests across the country, up from 1,706 counted in 2010.

Environment minister Prakash Javadekar described the figure as a huge success story and said it was the result of sustained conservation efforts.

“While the tiger population is falling in the world, it is rising in India. This is great news,” Javadekar told journalists in New Delhi.

Tigers in India have been threatened by rampant poaching and shrinking habitats from deforestation caused by power projects, roads and human settlements as the country pushes ahead with rapid industrialization and economic development.

The disappearance of forests has affected the availability of prey and led tigers to stray into human habitats.