Land of the Tiger: A Natural History of the Indian Subcontinent
- Book Review,
by Valmik Thapar
Amazon.com
In this companion volume to the BBC/PBS television series, Indian biologist Valmik Thapar, a specialist on tigers, takes a leisurely look at the extraordinary animals that inhabit the subcontinent, among them serpent eagles and kiangs, water monitors and one-horned rhinoceroses, cobras and bustards. Although India and the adjoining countries are crowded with humans, and although wildlife-protection laws are a recent development there, animal life continues to thrive; the diversity of flora and fauna, Thapar writes, are the richest in the world. He attributes this uncommon variety of species to religious beliefs that accord the living world an uncommon respect and reverence. Anyone planning a visit to India will benefit from this lively book, as will those who are merely curious.
From Booklist
An excellent introduction to an area that most people know little about, this book accompanies a PBS series to be broadcast in fall 1998. Thapar is an expert on tigers and has authored a number of books on the largest of the big cats. In his dual roles as author of this work and presenter of the PBS series, he introduces the reader/viewer to a region encompassing Pakistan, India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Nepal, and the Indian Ocean. The wide diversity of life in this region is due to the broad variety of climates, from desert to tropical forest and from snowy mountains to ocean islands. India alone boasts 1,200 bird and 340 mammal species. The compelling, thoughtfully illustrated text blends excerpts from the author's field notes with discussions of the spiritual place of animals in the region and quotes from early natural historians. An extensive bibliography will be extremely useful for those who want to explore further and helps recommend this book for all libraries. Nancy Bent
Book Description
The extraordinarily diverse Indian subcontinent covers a vast area extending from Pakistan in the west to Bangladesh in the east and stretching north to the Himalayan kingdoms of Bhutan and Nepal. Marked by dramatic extremes of climate and terrain, it is home to black bears, snow leopards, elephants, and flying lizards, and it is the only place in the world where both lions and tigers reside. After a lifetime devoted to the study and conservation of the tiger, Valmik Thapar turns his attention to the plants and animals that share the tiger's domain. How have so many species survived on such a crowded continent, where twenty percent of the world's population exerts intense pressure on the environment? Thapar links the region's tremendous diversity to the reverence shown to nature by Eastern religions, including Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism. But fifty years after India's independence, modern and urban values are seriously eroding the subcontinent's ecosystems. Thapar's careful natural history is enriched by his personal anecdotes and musings on spirituality and culture. His own reverence for the wildlife and landscape he encounters and his brilliant photographs make this book an enthralling read, and it is also a moving argument for more vigilant nature conservation on the Indian subcontinent.
About the Author
Valmik Thapar is one of the world's leading tiger experts. Since 1972 he has dedicated his life to filming, recording, and photographing tigers in the wild and working for their preservation. He is the Executive Director of the Ranthambhore Foundation and author of several books on tigers, including The Tiger's Destiny (1992). Valmik Thapar is the presenter of the BBC television series Land of the Tiger.
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