Tiger Tales: Conservationists Share Their Best Reads On The Tiger 

From staying for months in frugal conditions to photograph tigers in their natural habitat to encountering near-death experiences to study and document tigers, wildlife conservationists talk of their favourite books on the ferocious cat species.

Valmik Thapar

Naturalist, conservationist, writer

The Deer And The Tiger, By George Schaller

This book was written in the 1960s and was the first scientific study of tigers at Kanha Tiger Reserve in Madhya Pradesh, and has inspired many people since then.

Tiger, By Kailash Sankhala

This book was written by the first director of Project Tiger, and records the era after the launch of the conservation programme, when the decline in the number of tigers was arrested and the first signs of success were seen.

The Way Of The Tiger, Natural History And Conservation Of The Endangered Big Cat, By Ullas Karanth

This is the first story about the science behind the monitoring of tigers and the conservation initiatives that took place till the end of the last century.

The Rise And Fall Of The Emerald Tigers, By RS Chundawat

This book talks of the tigers in Panna, Madhya Pradesh, their rise and fall in numbers, along with the science behind tiger conservation, and the horrors of Indian bureaucracy.

Dr Pranav Chanchani

Lead, Tiger Conservation Programme, WWF India

Tiger Fire: 500 Years Of The Tiger In India, By Valmik Thapar

Tiger Fire is a compilation of the some of the best works of non-fictional accounts of the tiger.

It includes encounters with tigers, and art and photographs on them. Some of the most renowned tiger enthusiasts—including Babur, Akbar, François Bernier, Thomas Roe, RG Burton, Walter Campbell, Thomas Williamson, FW Champion, Kesri Singh, Jim Corbett, George Schaller—have contributed to the book.

It makes for a compelling read.

Tiger Moon: Tracking The Great Cats In Nepal, By Fiona Sunquist And Melvin E. Sunquist

The Sunquists, along with wildlife experts, studied tigers in the Royal Chitwan National Park in Nepal for two years, by tagging them and tracing their movements. They travel by elephants to find tigers, and among other things, learn to recognise individual tigers by their roar.

Tigers In Red Weather, By Ruth Padel

Award-winning poet and Darwin-descendant Padel, chronicles her two-year journey across 11 countries that talks of her encounter with tigers, and her observations on various conservation programmes.

The Deer And The Tiger, By George Schaller

This book is a detailed account of the tigers in Kanha National Park in Madhya Pradesh.

The way Of The Tiger: Natural History And Conservation Of The Endangered Big Cat, By K. Ullas Karanth

As the title suggests, this book talks of the habits of the tiger. It has information of everything right from eating to mating habits of tigers.

Parveen Kaswan

Officer, Indian Forest Service

Just Tigers, By Jim Corbett

This hunter-turned-conservationist has for years explored the deep forests of India and chased these big cats. Through his journey he explains the beautiful landscape of jungles, countryside life and secret lives of tigers.

Land Of The Tiger: A Natural History Of The Indian Subcontinent, By Valmik Thapar

This book covers not just tigers but a vast array of other wildlife of India. Thapar has explained various landscapes and their lifeforms in a very interesting manner. Reading it makes you fall in love with the wilderness of India.

Spell Of The Tiger: The Man Eaters Of Sundarbans, By Sy Montgomery

This book is special in the sense that it talks about tiger in a very unique setting. The writer has explained much about people and the natural setting but tigers in Sundarban indeed are “different and unique”. They are excellent swimmers, lean and were in constant conflict with the people. Not much is written about it by others.

The Illustrated Tigers Of India By Valmik Thapar

This book is neat and simple, with many sketches. It’s a good start for the people who are interested in knowing more about this tigers. It’s like an introduction to the world of tigers, with short write-ups on various aspects of tigers, including its history and social life.

Man Eaters Of Kumaon, By Jim Corbett

The beauty about writings of Jim Corbett is that “while reading you get attached to the scene”. It’s a collection of short stories where Corbett is chasing man-eating tigers in forests of the Kumaon region of Uttarakhand.

Prerna Singh Bindra

Wildlife conservationist and writer

The Great Soul Of Siberia: In Search Of The Elusive Siberian Tiger, By Sooyong Park

I’m currently reading what I can only call a love letter to the tiger—so beautifully and sensitively it is written. It’s authored by a documentary filmmaker who spent years tracking tigers. He spent months in a hideout in the extreme cold (-30 degrees Celsius) cooped in a tiny bunker surviving on frozen rice balls and seaweed, storing excrement in sealed boxes, with no light or noise or strong smells, so the tigers wouldn’t discern his presence and get nervous or disturbed, and he could observe them as their wild, natural selves.

The Deer And The Tiger, By George Schaller

Tiger! The Story Of The Indian Tiger, By Kailash Sankhala

The Deer and the Tiger, by George Schaller And Tiger by Kailash Sankhala are books I read in my early days, and played a role in inspiring me—as they did many others. George is known as the founding father of conservation biology, and pioneered the first-ever study on tigers in what’s today the Kanha Tiger Reserve, in Madhya Pradesh. He is the quintessential naturalist –tracking tigers. Observing, listening, getting his boots muddy.

It opened an exciting new world of what tigers ate, what their mating habits were. It’s a more scientific book, but still beautifully written.

Tiger! , by Kailash Sankhla, the first project head of Protect Tiger, is a book on how the conservation programme for the big cat came to be. It has fascinating insights on tigers, based on his field experiences, and also an insight on how Project Tiger was initiated by the man at the helm.

It was coming together of strong political will and committed, passionate men on the ground that laid the foundation of tiger conservation…and why the tiger burns bright today, even if precariously. It is a reminder of what we need to continue doing if the tiger is to be conserved for posterity.

Tigers In Red Weather, By Ruth Padel

The book is a gutsy, passionate poet’s-eye view of one of the most charismatic animals, the tiger in its shrinking kingdom. It beautifully weaves in literature, natural history, science, reflective musings, memoir in this lyrical and remarkable work. She travels across tiger-range countries: India, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Indonesia and South China telling the story of the tiger and those who try to save them. Ruth Padel’s pen is lyrical, the tiger and its forest have this aura, as though she is—deeply—in love with them, and makes your heart yearn for them too. A must read, including for those strange people not interested in tigers.

Tiger Tales is a comprehensive tiger library bringing together an eclectic, rich collection of writings on the tiger compiled by Ullas Karanth, one of India’s most eminent wildlife biologists who has spent many years studying tigers in the forests of southern India. This collection serves as a wonderful introduction to what the editor terms an “enormous”.

It has science, natural history, fiction, folklore, natural history from across tiger range countries—from India to Siberia and covering a span of almost a century which provides an insight into the changing attitude toward tigers over time—from pest to trophy to the ambassador for conservation.

One of my favourites in this book is a piece photographing tigers by Fred Champion, a forester from the United Provinces and a curiosity of his times in the early 19th century—when most naturalists viewed wildlife from the barrel of the gun. Champion’s quarry was the perfect photograph, indeed he was one of the first to use the‘camera trap’, whereby the animal would trigger the camera and flash taking pictures of itself! Ullas Karanth’s own research involving the radio-collaring, tracking and camera-trapping of tigers in Nagarhole National Park is a compulsive read.

The Tigers Of Taboo Valley, By Ranjit Lal

Tigers of Taboo Valley is vintage Ranjit Lal- (one of my favourite authors) a witty romp about this delightfully vain alpha tiger, Rana Shaan-Bahadur who is active on Facebook, but takes on the mantle of bringing up his cubs when their mother, Raat-ki-Rani is killed by a poacher. Not only does the reader learn about many fascinating animals and jungle life and raises concern for the grave dangers they face, but it also does it in a gripping manner.

Neha Sinha

Conservationist

The Rise And Fall Of The Emerald Tigers, By RS Chundawat

This book talks about conservation research and politics and also “presents the complications of the Science policy interface”.

Second Nature: Saving Tiger Landscapes In The Twenty-First Century, By Sanjay Gubbi

This book presents case studies on how conservation can work in the real world, including how to achieve practical yet difficult targets like shutting highways for night traffic in wildlife stretches.

My Life In Wildlife, By MK Ranjitsinh Jhala

This is a memoir but shows an insider look at how the bureaucracy and the system can be worked...it’s also has descriptive natural history (wildlife) passages.

Indian Wildlife, By MK Ranjitsinh Jhala

This book has invaluable information and field notes on many animals, including tigers.

Man Eaters Of Kumaon, By Jim Corbett

For the sheer intimacy with the tiger, the landscape and the forest.

The Vanishing, By Prerna Bindra

This book looks at contemporary challenges to wildlife conservation and examines the politics behind decisions. It’s a book that tries to establish that we have a wildlife crisis.

BloombergQuint asked its readers/viewers to recommend books on the tiger. Here are some books they listed.

• Tigers Forever: Saving the World's Most Endangered Cat, by Steve Winter
• Living With Tigers, by Valmik Thapar
• A Decade With Tigers: Supremacy. Solitude. Stripes, by Shivang Mehta