Baloo Protects Shere Khan

Interview with Valmik Thapar – Project Tiger

Some people have a bearing which you don’t forget. Having watched the BBC television series “Land of the Tiger” a few years ago, I never forgot the presence that the presenter made as he took the viewer on a safari of wildlife around the Indian sub-continent. The presenter a great bear of a man, captured my imagination with his beautiful command of the English language, which puts many of our countryman to shame. Valmik Thapar has devoted his life to the protection of wildlife and especially Tigers, so a chance meeting with an India gentleman who knew Valmik enabled me to pursue an invitation to meet him and discover more of the man and his passion for tigers.

Born in Bombay in 1952, he came from a well to do family where his father narrated on wildlife for films and radio. Educated in Bombay, before he gained a first in social anthropology at Delhi University in 1972. It was from here that he set his heart on photographing and discovering the behaviour of Tigers. Taking the train from Delhi, he arrived finally by bullock cart in the small town of Sawai Madhopur which lies just outside what is now known as the Ranthambhore National Park in south east Rajasthan. His only contact name in the area was the Forestry Warden - Fateh Singh Rathore, who when contacted was too busy to see him for two days and when he was, said that “he would be wasting his time, as there were no tigers”. Undismayed, he loaded provisions and set up camp in a part of the ruined fort which over looks the park. Within a few days he made his first sighting and with great excitement reported back to Fateh Singh. This was the start of a friendship between the two which has now continued for nearly 30 years and made them recognised as the world’s foremost experts on tigers.

Sitting on his veranda on the edge of the park, Valmik expresses adjectives and superlatives greater than most people and with a great amount of hand waving, he stated to me that Wildlife protection and politics run hand in hand in India and cannot be avoided. Unfortunately, although governmental help is and has been available to protect tigers, it comes low down on the list of priorities required in India. Nothing can be done without going through national and local bureaucracy. However, he stared hard at me and pointed out that no park can be a sanctuary without the government appointed Park Field Director having a passion to manage a park for the good of the wildlife, the local people and tourism. “An appointment change to a bad Field Director could destroy a park within a day “ he stressed very forcefully. Fortunately, Ranthambhore National Park has an excellent Field Director in Mr G. Viswanatha Reddy. Though as Valmik angrily said “This man has done an excellent job, but there are people who wish to do nothing to assist, but to castigate the man and his efforts - all this is due to jealousy, as Mr Reddy was tasked to guide President Clinton on his visit a few years ago”.

Today official estimates are that 2000-3000 Tigers survive in the wild in India, Valmik estimates the lower figure is the more accurate. I asked where he saw this figure in 10 years and was shocked by his reply. “ Forget 10 years, in 5 years I believe that only 500 Tigers will be alive in India” - he said. “ It will then stabilise at that number for the next decade”. Within India there are 27 Project Tiger Reserves and 450 wildlife sanctuaries where in some, tigers survive today. The tiger reserves are safe at present because of stable management, but borderless sanctuaries are under great pressure. India stills loses 100’s of tigers a year to poaching, thousands of square kilometres of forest because of degraduation, encroachment and diversion to large scale projects. As Valmik told me “The only way to protect tigers is to allocate areas of land exclusively to them and other wildlife ” Ranthambhores success has come about as local people living within the park have been persuaded to move out. This task was started in 1976 by Fateh Singh and has not been easy. Park wardens have lost their lives in the struggle to persuade the forest dwellers to relocate, as many had lived here for decades and were not keen to move. Today, there are still a few people living and grazing their cattle within the park and though they have agreed to, and money is available to relocated them, human rights activists are preventing this. Valmik tells me “ That he believes the greatest reason tigers are alive today in Ranthambhore is due to the agreement of the forest dwellers to relocate for the good of the tigers”

When Valmik and Fateh Singh first started watching tigers, they were a rarity to see and generally were only viewed at night. He recalls “Just seeing paw prints in the soft sandy soil or tiger scats was enough to cause celebration”. Poachers had made tigers scared of man, but slowly, tigers grew to accept our presence and with this, numbers increased in the 1980’s. Though disaster struck Ranthambhore in the early 90’s with poaching believed to have reduced the parks population by half. In 1992 a poacher was caught red handed with a tiger and leopard skin and during this period tiger sightings were greatly reduced. But in the last 5 years, excellent field management has seen a major turn round with visitors having a high chance of viewing a tiger in the wild. Today it is reasonably possible to view tiger behaviour at close quarters, tigers will even rub themselves alongside the tourist jeeps, sniffing and marking them with their scent. Poaching though is still a great problem throughout India, where a tiger pelt is worth about 3000 rupees (£44.00) to an Indian poacher. But can fetch as high as $100,000 in the west, plus the bones and penis are still highly desired in Chinese medicine at exorbitant prices.

Valmik told me he has had so many memorable experiences with tigers, that it is difficult to put them in any order. He does recall one story of a large male tiger, called Genghis back in 1983 - 84. Genghis was viewed for months around the lakes within the park, but one day Valmik observed him as he lay in the thick grass as a number of sambar moved ever closer to his lie. Exploding from his hide, the sambar panicked seeking the sanctuary of the lake, but Genghis having picked out a young fawn crashed into the water as the frightened sambar tried to make their escape. One of his great paws swatted the fawn, as tiger and prey disappeared below the surface, with only Genghis’s tail left showing. Closing its jaws around the fawns neck, death was quick and wading ashore with the fawn in his jaws, Genghis returned to his lie to enjoy his feed. All this explosive action, took only 2 minutes, and as he says “ Was a great demonstration of the world’s greatest predator”.

I had to ask Valmik how tourism was effecting the park, he told me “That tourism plays a major role in the conservation of the park. “Entry fees, guide fees, hotel accommodation etc. were all essential to raise the funds required to manage and protect Ranthambhore National Park”. “Visitors must respect the environment they are in and abide by the rules”. However he did question, the system of entry and set routes which visitors have to follow. “ Ranthambhore is the only National park in the world where visitors have to keep moving around a set route. “No other National Park doesn’t allow people to find a location to sit and take in the solitude, flora and the possibility of wildlife or even a tiger wandering by” - he said. “Changes do need to be made in this area”. In 2000 President Clinton visited the park and visitors nearly doubled to 90,000 as the world press reported the Presidents siting of a large male tiger and tigress. But since the tragedy of September 11and the stand off between India and Pakistan over Kashmir, visitor numbers have dramatically fallen, hurting the local economy.

Valmik’s busy career now only enables him to visit Ranthambhore a few times a year. He has written many books and made numerous films on tiger behaviour and continues to do so. One project he is immensely proud of is the Ranthambhore Foundation he created in 1987, the foundation is devoted to maintain and promote the ecological environment between man and nature. He purchased land 10 years ago in the area and on this has planted over 100,000 trees to expand the forest outside of the park. His plantation grows saplings which he sells to the local people, encouraging them to build and protect their local environment. As he says “ I charge them 1 rupee a tree, this way they appreciate their efforts more than if I gave them away for nothing “. His new young forest is now home to one resident leopard and I’m certain his dream of a resident tiger will make him totally fulfilled.

Copyright - David Wootton

CV - Valmik Thapar

Valmik Thapar was born in Bombay on the 5th September 1952. He graduated from the Modern school in Bombay in 1969, having received a 1st class degree in Science, whilst majoring in Biology. Moving to Delhi soon after, he was accepted at Delhi University to study Social Anthropology where he gained a BA(HONS) degree. He was first in his class and was awarded the University Gold medal in 1972 for his academic achievements.

1976 travelled to Ranthambhore to start his crusade into studying the behaviour of tigers whilst also working as a freelance photographer and film maker until 1980. In this period he produced and directed 18 documentary films, the last of which was entitled “ Kalibelias - Nomads of Rajastan”. For this he received the President of India’s Medal for best information film of 1980. He was also awarded several other awards at International film festivals.

In 1983 he had his first book published “ With Tigers in the Wild” and since then has written 8 other books on tigers and their habitat. His latest book published this year - “Bridge of God” is his account of 20 days in the Masai Mara. Over the years he has written for over 150 magazines and newspapers around the world, been involved in over 100 television and radio shows concerning tigers and natural history. And given more than 50 lectures on tigers, forestry and the problems of protected habitats for wildlife.

1987 he created the Ranthambhore Foundation, he also founded and is coordinator of the Tiger Link Network to “Save the Tiger” with links all round the world. Valmik sits on many boards and committees from the steering committee of Project Tiger to the Indian Board of Wildlife.

1997 he presented the 6 hour BBC film “ Land of the Tiger ”, a documentary film on the wildlife throughout the India sub continent, he also presented for the BBC a one hour film “The Tiger Fortress” on wild tigers in Ranthambhore. His work today, is with these many boards and committees plus presenting TV wildlife programmes of which a new BBC production is being filmed at the moment.