Valmik Thaper- forest wildlife defender passes at 73

He didn’t just save tigers. He gave them a voice, a future, a kingdom.

Valmik Thapar, India’s fiercest wildlife defender, passed away at 73 after a brave fight with cancer. And with him, a movement roars into memory.
For nearly five decades, he was more than a conservationist — he was the face and force behind India’s tiger story.

Born into a family of journalists, he could’ve chosen headlines. He chose the wild instead. A chance encounter with Fateh Singh Rathore in Ranthambhore in 1976 turned a moment into a mission.

With no formal training, Thapar learned from the forest itself — spending years observing tigers not as a scientist, but as a student of the wild.

Through the BBC’s Land of the Tiger, 30+ books, and countless panels, he brought India’s disappearing big cats to the world’s attention.

He called out vanishing populations, challenged broken systems, and refused to stay silent. But he didn’t stop at warning us — he offered hope.

In 1987, he founded the Ranthambhore Foundation to bring communities into conservation. He worked with displaced villagers, artisans, and children — believing tigers could thrive only if people did too.

Rest easy, Tiger Man.
You didn’t just walk with the wild — you gave it its fiercest voice.

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[RIP Valmik Thapar, Tiger conservation, Ranthambhore tiger reserve, Wildlife hero]