'Gruff Genius': Tiger Conservationist Valmik Thapar Dies At 73

Bengaluru: Valmik Thapar (73), one of India’s fiercest tiger conservationists, and filmmaker and author of more than 30 books, died at New Delhi at his residence on the night of May 30, following an illness. He is survived by his wife and son. 

Senior Congress leader and former union environment Minister Jairam Ramesh who also was the chair of the parliamentary Standing Committee on Science and Technology, Environment, Forests and Climate Change, called it a “great loss”.

“During my tenure as Chairman of the Standing Committee also he was a constant source of many valuable suggestions and advice. We had arguments but it was always an education to listen to him, full of passion and concern. He was truly an unforgettable one of a kind,” Ramesh added.

Valmik Thapar, a legendary figure in the world of conservation over the past four decades - especially tigers - has just passed away. It is a great loss.

Today's Ranthambore, particularly, is a testimony to his deep commitment and indefatigable zeal. He was uncommonly… pic.twitter.com/6TP60wMleo

— Jairam Ramesh (@Jairam_Ramesh) May 31, 2025

Stepping into tiger conservation

In the mid-1970s, Thapar’s fascination for the tiger grew under the tutelage of Fateh Singh Rathore, former park director of Ranthambore Tiger Reserve and National Park. Thapar spent a lot of his time at the Park, tracking, observing and studying the tigers he so loved. He also worked closely with Tiger Watch, a non-profit organisation that Rathore set up for tiger conservation in Sawai Madhopur, Rajasthan. 

In 1987, Thapar founded the Ranthambore Foundation, to work closely with local communities around the Park. The Foundation launched several welfare programmes such as installing biogas plants in villages so that people would not have to go into forests for firewood, which could bring them into close proximity with tigers.

Thapar authored more than 30 books, including Tigers: The Secret Life (1989), The Last Tiger (2006) and Living With Tigers (2016).

Thapar was also a prolific filmmaker and wildlife presenter, and is perhaps most well-known for narrating the BBC series Land of The Tiger in 1997, in his trademark booming baritone.

Thapar spent nearly five decades advocating for the tiger, and was part of more than 150 state and union government committees. Among them is the Tiger Task Force – constituted by the UPA government that was then in power, following the emptying of Sariska Tiger Reserve of all its tigers – of which he was appointed a member in 2005. 

'His gruff genius is what it took for India and the world to acknowledge the tiger's magnificence'

Thapar was a staunch critic of the way Project Tiger was run, and the bureaucratic hurdles that came in the way of tiger conservation. He didn’t mince words, and often wrote to officials – including chief ministers and prime ministers – pointing out concerns and recommending solutions.

He was also an advocate of protectionism, and believed that protected areas had to be inviolate of people; that people had to be removed from these areas to really foster tiger conservation. 

And yet, Thapar was clear that tigers that were dangerous had to be eliminated or taken away from parks. For instance, he was extremely vocal about how dangerous T-24 – a male tiger in Ranthambore that had killed people including forest guards and partially eaten its kills – was. 

In 2017, the Sanctuary Nature Foundation conferred on him their Lifetime Service Award – one among many he has received over the years. 

“Author of 32 books, including four on Africa, presenter of 16 international documentary films, and an excellent orator, Valmik Thapar’s gruff genius is what it took for India and the world to sit up and acknowledge the tiger’s magnificence, its predicament, and the urgency for conservation. And for this, we honour him,” Sanctuary’s note reads.

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