Burning bright

See India's tigers as you've never seen them before, in 800 images by over 100 people. A photobook, worked on by the legendary conservationist Valmik Thapar even in his final days, and now released by his co-author Kairav Engineer, celebrates the national park Thapar helped shape at Ranthambore. 'It is structured like a series of safaris, surprises at every turn,' Engineer says

- Paras Singh

It was a meeting with the legendary conservationist Fateh Singh Rathore in 1976 that changed Valmik Thapar’s life.

Rathore was then director of the Ranthambore Tiger Reserve in Rajasthan, and took the passionate 24-year-old conservationist under his wing.

It was very rare to see a tiger at Ranthambore in those years. One might get a fleeting glimpse at night, often only if bait was set first. There were few tourists, fewer jeeps, and almost no hotels.

This was three years into Project Tiger, an initiative launched by the government of India in a desperate bid to keep these majestic beasts from dying out amid widespread poaching and habitat loss. The tiger population was estimated at 268 individuals at the time. (There are now over 3,600.)

Thapar would go on to serve on scores of government panels and the National Board for Wildlife, write books and helm documentaries (including a number for the BBC). At first, he was simply determined to understand why tiger numbers weren't rising.

Through decades of research and advocacy, outreach to the public — students, nature lovers, NGOs and conservation organisations worldwide — and, of course, through his stunning photographs, he gave the tiger a voice and a platform.

In Ranthambore, he secured for the regal beasts a kingdom.