Valmik Thapar, one of India’s most unwavering voices for wildlife protection and a globally recognized authority on tiger conservation, passed away on Saturday at his home in New Delhi after a prolonged battle with cancer. He was 73.
Over a remarkable five-decade career, Thapar emerged as a leading expert on India’s wild tigers, especially those inhabiting Ranthambore National Park in Rajasthan.
With nearly 50 books to his name, Thapar’s impact spanned from literature to policy, documentaries to grassroots conservation.
He was the co-founder of the Ranthambhore Foundation, a frequent contributor to wildlife films, a trusted advisor to successive governments, and a tireless advocate through his involvement in over 150 committees, including the National Board for Wildlife.
A Journey Sparked by a Single Encounter
Thapar’s journey into the wild began not with formal training, but with deep personal passion. In his early 20s, working as a documentary filmmaker, he took a train to Ranthambhore.
There, under the mentorship of legendary conservationist Fateh Singh Rathore, Thapar saw his first wild tiger — a tigress named Padmini.
That encounter changed his life. Over the years, he developed a deep bond with Padmini and her descendants — Noon, Machli, Krishna, and Arrowhead — whose stories would come to define his life’s work.
In the 2023 BBC documentary My Tiger Family, Thapar reminisced about Krishna’s litter of four cubs, calling it “an event that shook my being.”
Perhaps no tiger symbolized his conservation efforts more than Machli, the famed Ranthambore tigress who defied poaching threats and left behind a lineage that still dominates the park.
Thapar proudly noted that over 75% of Ranthambore’s current tiger population carries Machli’s DNA.
A Fierce Voice for Uncompromising Protection
Throughout his career, Thapar remained a forthright and often critical voice in India’s conservation discourse. He rejected the idea that tigers could sustainably coexist with human settlements and maintained that true tiger conservation demanded strict boundaries free from human interference.
In 2005, after tigers vanished from Sariska, he issued a dissenting note as part of the Tiger Task Force, criticizing its idealistic embrace of coexistence and calling instead for exclusive, inviolate zones for tigers.
Thapar was deeply concerned about the erosion of India’s forests and strongly advocated for reviewing outdated forest laws, empowering frontline forest officers, and engaging citizens in wildlife protection.
“Forest officers today deal with the most dangerous criminals. Yet they have limited powers and outdated tools,” he once said.
Acknowledging Political and Judicial Guardianship
Thapar consistently credited former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi for laying the legislative foundation for India’s environmental protections — from launching Project Tiger, banning hunting and fur exports, to enacting the Wildlife Protection Act and Forest Conservation Act.
“If not for those laws brought in by Indira and Rajiv Gandhi, we wouldn’t have an inch of forest land left today,” he remarked.
When political will waned, Thapar acknowledged the crucial role played by the Supreme Court, which from 1995 onward issued more than 200 rulings that curbed illegal logging, closed sawmills, and protected ecologically critical areas like the Western Ghats.
A Legacy Honoured and Remembered
News of Thapar’s passing drew heartfelt tributes from leaders, conservationists, and the public.
- Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge hailed him as a man “whose work laid the groundwork for India’s current environmental legislation.”
- Jairam Ramesh, senior Congress leader, called his passing a “great loss.”
- Renowned conservationist Nirmal Ghosh described Thapar as a “giant of tiger conservation” and “a global spokesman for the tiger.”
- Conservation biologist Neha Sinha called him “the international voice of Indian tigers.”
Even The Guardian, in its 2023 review of My Tiger Family, noted that Thapar himself seemed worthy of a documentary. “Even a cursory reading of his Wikipedia page suggests that he should be the subject of one,” it stated, while praising the film’s focus on the animals he so dearly loved.
In his own words, Valmik Thapar once said:
“The tiger overwhelms me. I know nothing else.”
His death marks the end of an era, but his legacy will roar on through the forests he fought to protect and the tigers that still call them home.
