Illustrated Tigers of India, The - Valmik Thapar

The Illustrated Tigers of India by well-known tiger conservationist Valmik Thapar is a simple book on a serious topic. As the author himself says in his note, the book gives you everything you wanted to know about the beautiful and majestic animal, the tiger – in the jungles of India. The book serves as a humble eye-opener to a severe crisis – the alarmingly dwindling tiger population in India. Thapar has tried to establish with relevant facts and figures that the national animal is an endangered species today. He also expresses grave concern on the lackadaisical attitude of the state and authorities towards the issue.

The entire book is divided into four sections. Introducing The Tiger deals with the tiger origins, the various subspecies and the present tiger. The Tiger Factsheet gives a highly useful graphical anatomy of the animal as well as facts and information on its senses. The Life of the Tiger is a detail section throwing light on the lifecycle of the tiger, exploring the birth, growing up, family life and break up of a tiger family. It also gives the reader an idea of the diet and hunting style of the tiger. The final section, The Future of the Tiger talks about the extinct tiger subspecies and India’s tigers, which the author states with figures, is on the verge of extinction.

Thapar concludes with a grim assessment that “The tiger’s future is entirely dependent on it being left alone by human beings. It will only survive away from human presence”. He blasts the political leadership of India, which, as he correctly puts, does not have the political will to create and protect inviolate tiger habitats.

The final page gives a map of India identifying the various Project Tiger reserves scattered across the country. The book also includes extracts from writings of other tiger experts such as K. Ullas Karanth, M. Monirul H. Khan, Fateh Singh Rathore and Kailash Sankhala. Further, there are beautiful illustrations by Kallol Majumdar and magnificent photographs by Bittu Sahgal, K. M. Narayana Swamy and Sudhir Shivram. Part of the Oxford India Illustrated Collection, the book runs nearly 115 pages and costs Rs. 225.

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