New Delhi : Valmik Thapar, an eminent wildlife conservationist of India and an author, passed away at 73 at his residence on Saturday morning. He was suffering from cancer and will be cremated at Lodhi Electric Crematorium at 3:30 pm today.
He graduated with a gold medal in sociology from St Stephen’s College, Delhi University, and married theatre artist Sanjana Kapoor, daughter of actor Shashi Kapoor. Thapar was guided by Fateh Singh Rathore, a legendary figure in Indian wildlife conservation and one of the core members of the original Project Tiger team.
He served on over 150 government committees and task forces, including the National Board for Wildlife, chaired by the Prime Minister. In 2005, he was appointed to the Tiger Task Force, established by the UPA government to assess the management of tiger reserves after tigers vanished from the Sariska Tiger Reserve.
Thapar firmly believed that long-term tiger survival depended on preserving areas free from human activity. He argued that a minimum core area must be managed in its natural state exclusively for tigers. He authored or edited more than 30 books on wildlife, including Land of the Tiger: A Natural History of the Indian Subcontinent (1997) and Tiger Fire: 500 Years of the Tiger in India.
In 2024, he appeared in the documentary My Tiger Family, reflecting on 50 years of observing wild tigers in Ranthambore. Thapar was critical of Project Cheetah, warning that India lacks the habitat, prey, and expertise for sustaining free-ranging African cheetahs.