Valmik Thapar: new conservation models

Valmik Thapar is a tiger conservationist, wildlife photographer, television producer and author of more than 14 books that focus on India’s Bengal tiger. His reputation is practically synonymous with the place he wrote about and worked to protect for more than 35 years: Ranthambore National Park. He began studying tigers here as a protégé of Fateh Singh Rathore, renowned tiger conservationist and member of the first Project Tiger team, and developed a body of work that has substantially contributed to knowledge about the park’s ecosystem and its tigers. Thapar has served on numerous government and non-government task force committees and projects aimed to improve tiger protection strategies across India.

I met with Thapar in his New Delhi home, a den of tigers for its incredible variety and number of artistically rendered cats on display. Paintings, etchings, sculptures, stained glass and other artwork throughout the home represent the tiger in every conceivable style across centuries.

Speaking from an easy chair in the basement of his home, Thapar talked about a range of issues for which he has advocated throughout his career, such as the need for the Government of India to form partnerships at local and central government levels with scientists, NGOs and private sector groups and individuals, especially the younger generations, in order to infuse the tiger conservation mission with new perspectives and approaches. He also called for a change of infrastructure within the Ministry of Environment, Forest, and Climate Change based on a decentralized distribution of power, and improved, in-depth training across areas of specialization for its employees.