the splendours

of india’s animal

kingdom

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non-fiction

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ALEPH BOOK COMPANY

An independent publishing firm promoted by Rupa Publications India

INDIA’S SPECTACULAR animal life has attracted the attention of naturalists, photographers, writers, conservationists and hunters for centuries. This book brings together, for the very first time, the finest writing, photography and art on Indian animals over the past two thousand years.

Developed and edited by Valmik Thapar, one of our foremost wildlife experts, the book is divided into three sections. The first section, ‘Thoughts from Elsewhere’, written by Thapar, takes the reader on a quick tour of the country’s natural heritage in the twenty-first century. It provides an overview of mammalian distribution, the characteristics of individual species, the evolution of the country’s wildlife habitats, threats to the environment and much else besides. The second section, ‘The Wildlife Chronicles’, collects the finest accounts of India’s animals from the first century onwards. It has stories about the great predators—tigers, leopards, snow leopards, lions, golden cats and others; magnificent herbivores like the elephant, rhino, wild ox and the various species of deer and antelope; evocative accounts of some of the most striking animals in the country including monkeys, squirrels and other arboreal creatures; as well as reports of rare sightings of river dolphins, bats, shrews and other lesser-known members of the animal kingdom. Contributors to this section include travellers, hunters, writers, photographers and naturalists such as Pliny the Elder, Ibn Battuta, Babur, Akbar, François Bernier, Isabel Savory, Jim Corbett, George Schaller, Kenneth Anderson, M. Krishnan, E.R.C. Davidar, Peter Jackson and Ruskin Bond. The third section, ‘Wild Fire’, contains a selection of some of the finest photographs ever taken of India’s mammals.

Conceived and composed over five years, during which the author sifted through several million words and thousands of photographs to find

(continued on the back flap...)

the most memorable writing and pictures available on Indian mammals, Wild Fire brings the splendour and diversity of India’s animal kingdom to glorious and vivid life.

VALMIK THAPAR has spent several decades serving the cause of India’s flora and fauna. During this time, he has authored, co-authored and edited more than twenty-five books and made or presented nearly a dozen films for the BBC and several other television networks on the tiger and Indian flora and fauna. Wild Fire is the second book in a trilogy that began with the acclaimed Tiger Fire, which was published in 2013; Thapar is currently working on Winged Fire, a book on Indian birds, which will be published in 2015. He has also created a major non-governmental organization dedicated to conserving wildlife, the Ranthambhore Foundation. Although he has served on hundreds of government panels and committees relating to nature conservation, he is today a fierce critic of government policy and continues to campaign for new ways to save nature in India. He is presently working to set up a think tank, both online and offline, to find solutions to preserve our natural habitats.

Front cover: A troop of golden langurs (photograph by Ramki Sreenivasan). Back cover: Black leopard (photograph by Phillip Ross).

©Hamir Thapar(...continued from the front flap)

t h e s p l e n d o u r s o f i n d i a ’s a n i m a l k i n g d o m

VALMIK THAPARWILDFIRE

VALM

IKTH

APA

RW

ILDFIRE

Wild Fire is a book that celebrates the spectacular wildlife of India with a focus

on the extraordinary diversity of mammals to be found in the country. The 338 species of mammals are distributed across a wide range of habitats—ranging from the high Himalaya to deserts, cloud forests, rain forests, grasslands and tropical oceans among others. This volume attempts to be a landmark textual and visual record of the various species from the most striking to the most elusive.

Divided into three sections, the book showcases the very best non-fiction writing, photography and art on the country’s mammals that have appeared over the past six centuries. While the focus of the material in the book is on mammals, a small percentage is devoted to reptiles, birds and insects to give the reader a sense of the enormous diversity and splendour of the country’s wildlife. Section One of the book is an overview of India’s fauna by Valmik Thapar, who has conceived, written and edited the book. Section Two brings together the best writing and art on the subject from the very first recorded piece on wild India from the sixteenth century to articles and reports by some of the most distinguished naturalists and biologists at work today. Section Three is a selection of the finest wildlife photography to be had. Rounding out the book is a comprehensive index of the country’s mammals.

Unprecedented in its scope, the 560 pages of Wild Fire (each of them printed in full colour) are designed to appeal to conservationists, naturalists, as well as anyone interested in India’s wildlife.

Valmik Thapar has spent

several decades serving

the cause of India’s flora

and fauna. During this time,

he has written more than

twenty books and made or

presented nearly a dozen

films for the BBC and several

other television networks

on the tiger and Indian

flora and fauna. He has

also created a major non-

governmental organization

dedicated to conserving

wildlife, the Ranthambhore

Foundation. Although he

has served on hundreds

of government panels and

committees relating to nature

conservation, he is today a

fierce critic of government

policy. He continues to

campaign and fight for new

ways to save nature in India.

WilD FirE by Valmik Thapar

I am often asked why I have devoted my life to the study

and conservation of the tiger and not the other animals

that abound in our forests. My reply is uncomplicated—

the tiger stirs my soul like no other. But to understand

tigers you have to understand the world around them. I

am reminded here of that delightful story about the leaf

warbler and the tiger. A single leaf warbler is said to eat

180 insects every

hour—if there were

no leaf warblers

or insectivorous

birds around, the

leaves of every tree

and bush would

suddenly appear

tattered and ragged

as the caterpillars

would have no

predators; and if

the leaves vanished

what would the

poor tiger do?

Could it survive in a bare forest?

Could any of the other animals

survive? In sum, the leaf warbler is an

essential part of the interdependent

natural world. And so, while I was

obsessed with the tiger, I was also

fascinated by all the life around it.

Among other things, this book is

about the amazing world of nature

that I found wherever I went in my

search for tigers. I have not seen a

fair amount of India’s wilderness, it

is too big and diverse for that. But I

have visited and experienced enough

of this country’s range of wildlife to be awed by it. This book

includes, from the past six centuries or so, the best writing

and pictures of Indian mammals which are its primary focus

and birds. Hopefully these will be the focus of other

books in years to come.

~Humans across the world seem to be divided into three

groups. The first live in the lap of nature waking and

sleeping with sunrise and sunset and determining

their life by the seasons, the tides, the rains or the

snows. The second (and these people live mainly in the

developed world) believe in controlling nature and live

in settlements of concrete and steel. Their lives are

governed by modern technology and they are heedless

of the negative impact of their ways on nature. And then

there is the third lot (among whom I count myself) who

are caught in between the first two. We were born in the

urban jungle but we are inspired by the natural world.

And although we might live between worlds, I believe it

is humans in this third group who know how critical it

is to fight for and protect the natural world, while using

our connections and familiarity with the industrialized

world to achieve that end.

although I couldn’t resist including a few

photographs and essays about exciting

encounters with marine species, reptiles

This book is about the links that keep our natural

world alive, it is about the stories of leaf warblers and

tigers, it is about the interdependence of all forms of

life and a unique reminder to us humans about the

world around us of which we are a tiny part. Since

time immemorial, humans were thought to be divided

into two ‘camps’. As Romila Thapar the eminent

historian puts it, ‘Early

Sanskrit texts such as the

Vedas make a distinction

between what they call

grama and aranya. These

categories are generally

seen as confrontational,

but it is a confrontation

which is sometimes

used to highlight social

perceptions. The grama

is the settlement and

is therefore orderly,

disciplined, known,

predictable and the

location of what came

to be called civilization.

It is a place where Vedic

rituals can be performed.

It is basic to agriculture, urban living, exchange,

government, the arts and culture of elite groups

[often referred to as high culture these days].

The aranya is the forest, disorderly, unknown,

unpredictable, and inhabited by predators and

strange creatures, different from those living

in the grama. The fantasy of associating the

unknown with the dark depths of the forest is

common to all societies which begin to view

the forest from the settlement, as is evident

from folk tales and children’s stories. As the

lifestyles of those who live in the settlement

evolve into urban centres, the distancing from

the people of the forest becomes greater. They

are regarded as less civilized and because

their social mores are different, they come to

be treated as the backward peoples of society,

relegated to the lowest rungs of the social

hierarchy.’ What is remarkable is the fact that

so little attitudinal change in society has taken

place over thousands of years. Most still regard

the forest and its inhabitants in much the same

way that the Vedas describe. As someone who lives in both these worlds, I am convinced that if

we, in our uncaring way, destroy the natural world and all its inhabitants, we are done for as a

species. This book is about the wild inhabitants of the aranya. Its companion volume Tiger Fire

took three years to complete but this volume has taken longer since its scale is enormous. If I

were asked to describe it in a sentence, I would say it is about so much that we as humans do

not even see in terms of colour, design, shape and a way of being that is remarkable and unique

and all around us.

Q