Valmik Thapar saw a wild tiger for the first time fifty years ago. “You lost oneself within yourself,” he declared. One of the nine parks created by the then-prime minister Indira Gandhi’s Project Tiger Conservation project, Ranthambore Nature Reserve, was the destination of his impromptu trip from Delhi, which he essentially never left.
The sixty-minute video “My Tiger Family” is a picture book of the time he spent with these amazing animals, with special attention to the five matriarchs he saw asserting their dominance in the area rich in prey surrounding Ranthambore’s lakes.
The subject of that momentous first sighting, Padmini, lived through the period of widespread hunting. When European settlers brought their firearms with them in the 18th century, tiger hunting turned into a posh pastime. 1,300 tigers, according to one Maharaja, were slain. Photographs in black and white are displayed to us, one of which shows a youthful Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip standing erect over the bodies. It always astounds me. The initial wild tiger population of over 100,000 had decreased to barely 1,800 by the time Project Tiger was started. There were only twelve of them left when Thapar reached Ranthambore.
Based on Thapar’s assessment, the reserve entered a golden age when Noon was born in the 1980s. When the twelve tigers who were left learned it was okay to roam during the day, they gradually overcame their fear. With their population growing from twelve to forty-five, the younger generation started to travel around freely. According to Thapar, those were the happiest days of his life. “I had no idea they would end.” An image of Morning and her companion, Genghis, is shown to us. The grace and might of tigers never cease to astound you, regardless of how often you watch them on TV.
By the early 1990s, the finest times were over. The poachers came, ready to send China tiger bones to make medications. The majority of the two-thirds of the tigers who were killed were shot at close range, as they had not developed a fear of people, much less people with weapons. “There are times I feel guilty that I educated them to trust fellow humans,” adds Thapar. It’s the first time you wish his voice didn’t sound so passionate. Poachers almost killed Fateh Singh Rathore, the reserve’s director and also Thapar’s tutor. He was saved from death when his driver placed his body over him.
After that, Thapar shifted his attention to activism, organizing a charity, joining government committees, and starting to publish books and produce TV shows, such as the well-known “The Land of the Tiger” from 1997.
However, all of this is just briefly discussed. There is a dearth of information regarding Thapar’s extensive career experience and decades of conservation activity. Though “My Tiger Family” stays completely focused on the tigers he loves, even a short glance at his Wikipedia profile shows he should be the topic of at least one documentary himself.
Machli flourished despite being born during the poaching crisis. Her granddaughter Arrowhead, through Krishna, whose litter of four cubs, instead of the customary one or two, “shook my being,” says Thapar, has left her DNA imprinted in 75% of Ranthambore’s 70 tigers.
The mid-2000s saw another poaching crisis that resulted in the extinction of all tigers in two other reserves and a halving of the tiger population in Ranthambore. Consequently, the parks were manned by armed guards, and Project Tiger was absorbed into the larger National Tiger Conservation Authority. Again, there is no mention of politics or Thapar’s part in them.
If you want to know a lot about tigers, “My Tiger Family” is not the place to go. Although Thapar mentions a couple of the recent findings at the reserve, such as the fact that tigers may kill in deep water and that a mother may be softly announcing to her adult cubs that it’s time for them to grow up and say goodbye, this isn’t your typical natural history documentary. It’s an ode to a few special tigers and the breathtaking scenery around them. In addition, it serves as a reminder of why we should wish to protect valuable items and a monument to what individuals can accomplish when they so choose.
