Kailash Sankhala was the founder director of Project Tiger. He loved children and often said that children were the answer to the problem of dying tigers and lost forests since the next generation had to be taught to respect this precious wealth. Mr Sankhala lived his whole life in the service of nature. He loved tigers and wanted to protect them. Once, when he was a very young man, Kailash Sankhala actually shot a tiger because in those days every forest officer was expected to do so. Immediately after that he felt so bad, "just like a murderer," he said. He then decided to spend his whole life saving tigers to make up for his mistake. Kailash Sankhala was a very great man. He wanted a strong India, one in which forests and rivers are saved for us and for the children yet to be born in our beloved country.

Fateh Singh Rathore retired as Wildlife Warden of Ranthambhore. Born in Rajasthan, he was never a serious student and to prevent him from becoming an actor, his grandfather pushed him into the Navy. After six months of seasickness, he left and then tried becoming a lawyer, and even sold soft coal for a while before an uncle arranged for a post for him as a ranger in the Rajasthan Forest Department. He was thrilled with the outdoor life. He was first at Sariska and then moved to Ranthambhore. Initially he had little interest in the wildlife around him, but in 1969, he took a course at the Wildlife Institute of India. S.R. Choudhury, an authority on tigers and an English lady called Diana Wordsworth inspired Fateh and urged him to devote more of his talent and energy into Ranthambhore. In 1970, tiger shooting was banned in India, and Fateh was promoted to Wildlife Warden at Ranthambhore. And here, he worked miracles! Lakes overtaken by paddy fields were restored, and the animals returned too when their water returned. He released infant crocodiles into water and laid a network of dirt roads to help forest guards to patrol the park. By 1979, twelve villages had been removed from the heart of the park. In October 1981, he was badly beaten by 30 villagers, and was in hospital for three months. But this did not stop him. He redoubled his efforts and by the late 1980s, there were some 40 tigers in the healthy forests, grasslands and lakes of Ranthambhore.

G.V.Reddy, Divisional Forest Officer of the Ranthambhore Tiger Reserve in Rajasthan has been directly responsible for the recovery of tigers in Ranthambhore. When G.V. Reddy was posted at Ranthambhore in 1997, he took on the toughest jobs first, dealing with poaching gangs and the timber mafia. His courage and single-minded devotion helped restore the lost morale of the staff in the field and slowly regain its lost glory. Ranthambhore's habitat is being expanded to give the tiger's the precious space they need to survive. "The very first time I saw one was in Sariska in 1988, for precisely 10 seconds!" he says. "Almost before I realised it, the tiger vanished. I doubt that I will ever be the same again. Something happened deep inside me. Subsequently I was able to spend lots of time with this family. Once as I sat watching the cubs, the male, we called him Nandu, began to walk right towards us. He was really mischievous. The tiny fellow actually forced me to back my vehicle away from him because his mother was watching all this with great interest. But she felt secure about us. It's so easy for tigers to take over your life. There is something powerful about them that commands you to become a bagh sevak (servant of the tiger)."

Billy Arjan Singh: Born in Gorakhpur on August 15, 1917, 'Billy' Arjan Singh is a man ahead of his time. His ancestors found favour in the court of Queen Victoria and he is a living legend today; considered by some to be the very soul of the Indian tiger. Unpopular for having helped put 26 shikar companies out of business more than 40 years ago, his life has been mired in controversy ever since he reintroduced Tara, a hybrid, zoo-born tigress into the wilds of Dudhwa. He once used to be a shikari himself. In the summer of 59, he had gone out into the forest on his elephant, Bhagwan Piari when he came upon a patch of land owned by a politician who had lost interest in it. He bought it and turned it into a functioning farm, named 'Tiger Haven' where he managed to create a secure zone for wildlife. He used any and all the means he could to save the tiger. He says, "Along with friends, I used to reserve the shooting blocks adjacent to Tiger Haven to stop others from using them. Sometimes I used to fudge applications in five or six different names! One way or another we managed to provide a safe haven for wildlife. I was repaying old debts. Some old shikaris used to come and drink with me around my campfire and their loosened tongues would provide me with information that I would unhesitatingly use against them!"

Valmik Thapar has dedicated a life to filming, recording, photographing and writing about tigers, while working tirelessly for their preservation. He is the Executive Director of Ranthambhore Foundation, which he started in 1987. His organisation is devoted to maintaining the ecological balance necessary for man to live in harmony with nature. Valmik Thapar also coordinates Tiger Link, a network of people and organisations that serve the interests of the tiger. Valmik Thapar is recognised as one of the world's leading tiger experts who believes: "The future of the human race is bound with the fate of the tiger and all the countless living organisms that form the fabric of life on this planet." You can read reviews of several of his books in the Reviews section and maybe you'd like to get some of them for their collection.

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