“The tiger is a large-hearted gentleman with boundless courage and that when he is exterminated — as exterminated he will be unless public opinion rallies to his support — India will be the poorer, having lost the finest of her fauna.”— Jim Corbett
Long before camera traps, GPS collars and scientific monitoring, Jim Corbett issued a warning that still rings true today: if India loses its tigers, it loses a part of itself.
Every tiger roaming India’s forests today is part of a conservation story that has taken decades to build.
Over the last 50 years, the country has pulled the species back from the brink through Project Tiger, the Wildlife (Protection) Act, stronger laws, scientific monitoring and the dedication of thousands of forest guards, researchers and local communities.
But today’s challenge is very different.
Saving tigers is no longer only about increasing their numbers. It is about protecting the forests they call home in a country where highways, railways, expanding towns and human aspirations increasingly overlap with wildlife habitats.
This International Tiger Day, The Better India chose to move beyond census figures and policy reports to ask a more personal question:
If India’s leading tiger conservationists could write one letter to a young person dreaming of protecting wildlife, what would they say?
Their answers draw on decades spent patrolling forests, working alongside local communities, combating poaching and shaping conservation efforts across the country.
Together, they remind us that saving tigers has always been about protecting people, forests and the future they share.
Dr Anish Andheria: ‘Don’t become an armchair conservationist’
For Dr Anish Andheria, President and CEO of the Wildlife Conservation Trust (WCT), India’s tiger story cannot be secured by awareness campaigns alone. Awareness, he says, only matters when it leads to action.
Dr. Anish Andheria (extreme left) believes young people have a greater opportunity than ever to shape conservation conversations, but warns them against relying on shortcuts. Photograph: (Wildlife Conservation Trust)
Speaking toThe Better India, Andheria says that while conservation education has existed for years, the challenges in India’s forests today demand a more informed and engaged generation. “Awareness by itself will not translate into anything unless it is put to use,” he says. “Forests continue to be diverted in the name of development, defence and infrastructure. If there is hope, it lies with today’s children.”
He believes young people have a greater opportunity than ever to shape conservation conversations, but warns them against relying on shortcuts. While social media has become an important tool for spreading awareness, he cautions against creating wildlife content without first understanding the science behind it.
“Wildlife is not a subject where you can depend on AI or simply generate information,” he says.
More importantly, Andheria believes conservation cannot happen from behind a screen.
“There is no point being an armchair conservationist,” he says. “There is no shortcut to tiger conservation, or wildlife conservation for that matter.”
“Children should grow up confident enough to tell policymakers that our natural wealth cannot keep paying the price for everything else,” Andheria says Photograph: (Anish Andheria)
Instead, he encourages young people to step outdoors. Join nature clubs. Walk through neighbourhood forests, wetlands or beaches. Observe local biodiversity before dreaming of distant tiger reserves.
Andheria is equally clear that wildlife tourism, when done responsibly, can become an important gateway into conservation, but only if people change the way they approach it.
“I would always encourage children to visit national parks because tourism helps people connect with nature,” he says. “But the narrative around tiger tourism has to change. People often think they’re going only to see a tiger. Instead, they should learn about the entire ecosystem, the forests, the prey species, wildlife corridors, rivers and the communities living around these landscapes.”
For him, that broader understanding is essential because the biggest threats facing tigers today go well beyond the animal itself.
“Young people entering conservation must understand issues like forest fragmentation, habitat degradation, poaching, illegal wildlife trade, and the impact these have on people living around forests,” he says. “You cannot save tigers without protecting the landscapes they depend on.”
“Children should grow up confident enough to tell policymakers that our natural wealth cannot keep paying the price for everything else,” he says. “Our water security, our economy and our future all depend on healthy ecosystems. Ecology and economy are deeply connected.”
His message to every young conservationist: “We have borrowed this planet from our children. When they, in turn, pass it on to the next generation, may they be proud to leave behind a world better than the one they inherited”.
Jose Louies: ‘Fight for conservation, not the glory of it’
For Jose Louies, CEO of the Wildlife Trust of India (WTI), understanding India’s conservation journey begins with understanding its history. Jose is also the Chief of Enforcement and leads the division that handled wildlife trade control and litigation.
Despite India’s remarkable recovery in tiger numbers, Louies believes that tiger poaching is far from over. Photograph: (Jose Louies, Facebook)
“If I could return to 1947,” he says, “I would want India to see tigers not as enemies of people but as part of our national heritage and people and there would be no reward for killing/hunting tigers.”
Even after Independence, colonial attitudes towards wildlife continued to influence public thinking. Hunting remained socially celebrated, and policies often rewarded the killing of predators. Tigers were viewed as trophies or threats instead of an essential part of healthy ecosystems.
Louies believes that mindset delayed India’s conservation efforts before the country finally changed course.
His own journey into tiger conservation began years later while travelling through tiger reserves with his mentor, the late Ashok Kumar.
“There I learnt early that tiger poachers regularly infiltrate protected landscapes to kill the most enigmatic animals our forests hold,” he recalls. “Tigers continue to be hunted for their body parts to supply domestic and international markets.”
Those experiences shaped the direction of his career.
Despite India’s remarkable recovery in tiger numbers, Louies believes one uncomfortable truth often goes unnoticed.
“Tiger poaching is far from over,” he tells The Better India. “While you are reading this piece, a tiger poacher is active somewhere in the country, stalking a tiger or perhaps having already made the kill.”
“Perhaps we were too focussed on increasing tiger numbers rather than improving quality of their habitats. This is something that future conservationists should work on to ensure that wildlife has a safe space in our country”, Louise says. Photograph: (Steve Winter/National Geographic)
For him, rising tiger numbers tell only one side of the story.
The other unfolds far away from safari routes, where forest guards spend long days patrolling difficult terrain with limited resources, often risking their lives to protect wildlife.
Looking ahead, Louies believes one of India’s biggest priorities should be protecting the corridors that connect tiger reserves.
These natural pathways allow tigers to move safely between forests, maintain healthy genetic diversity and reduce both conflict and poaching risks.
His advice to young conservationists is simple but honest.
“Fight for realistic conservation results, not the glory of conservation,” he says. “This is not comfortable work. The rewards come through blood, sweat and hard work.”
And if a teenager wrote to him asking how they could help save tigers?: “There’s a lot of responsibility on your shoulders as there’s still a lot of work to be done. Educate yourself as much as you can about our wildlife and the conservation threats and successes that we have had. Whichever line of work you choose as your grow up, there’s always something you can contribute to ensure that India becomes a country where humans and wildlife coexist.”
Dr Rathin Barman: ‘Know the animal before you try to save it’
Some lessons stay with you forever. For Dr Rathin Barman, Director and Chief, Strategy and Liaison (North East), Wildlife Trust of India, one evening in Kaziranga National Park completely changed the way he looked at tigers.
States that are home to tigers shoulder a national responsibility. They should therefore receive greater financial support from the Central Government to protect, restore, and manage tiger habitats effectively, Barman says. Photograph: (Wildlife Trust of India)
An ageing rhinoceros had been killed. Deep inside the forest, a tiger was feeding on the carcass.
“As dusk settled, I couldn’t understand what I was seeing,” he recalls. “The tiger was so deeply inside the rhino’s body that it appeared to be some strange half-rhino, half-tiger creature.”
Then his eyes adjusted. “There he was,” says Barman. “Completely absorbed in his meal. He had no idea we were only a few feet away.”
There was no panic. No urgency.
“He ate with the confidence of a true king who knew he ruled the forest.”
The team quietly stepped back, leaving the tiger undisturbed.
“That day my admiration became profound respect,” he says.
Years later, that moment continues to shape his approach to conservation.
“Set enough land aside exclusively for tigers and its prey species. Don’t divert forest land for the activities which will affect the wild animals.”, Barman says Photograph: (iStock)
“The future of tigers is simple,” he says. “Protect more forests. Set aside more land exclusively for wildlife.”
He believes India’s conservation efforts must resist becoming driven by commercial interests.
“Mass tourism and the relentless pursuit of tiger sightings must be regulated,” he tells The Better india. “Wildlife conservation should never become merely a business.”
Instead, he calls for greater investment in tiger landscapes, stronger habitat protection and deeper involvement of communities living around forests.
“We need to engage those who understand the culture and heartbeat of the locality.”
Barman also wants young conservationists to confront an uncomfortable chapter of India’s past. “The so-called elite once killed tigers for fun,” he says. “They proudly posed beside dead animals.”
Remembering that history, he believes, makes India’s conservation success even more meaningful.
But the challenges are far from over. “The reality is less glorious than what documentaries show,” he says. “Tigers today are under pressure from unregulated tourism and relentless development. Forests are shrinking. Habitats are becoming fragmented.”
His advice to young conservationists is both practical and uncompromising.
“Fight for the rights of free animals,” he says. “Be prepared to face failures in the system. Stand against people who work only for personal wealth instead of ecological wealth.”
And before trying to save tigers?
“Know the animal first,” he says. “Understand its behaviour and ecological needs. Then make that curiosity infectious.”
Yash Magan Shethia: ‘Every success carries a new responsibility’
Yash Magan Shethia, Director, Wildlife Landscapes at WWF-India, writes his letter as though he is speaking directly to every young reader.
He begins with a milestone.
In 2010, at the Tiger Summit in St Petersburg, all 13 tiger-range countries committed to doubling the global wild tiger population by 2022.
India achieved that goal, recording an estimated 3,682 wild tigers in its 2022 assessment. But, Shethia reminds us, the country’s conservation journey began much earlier.
One important lesson, Shethia says, came from the unsuccessful tiger reintroduction effort at Odisha’s Satkosia Tiger Reserve in 2018. Photograph: (X/@Unitedfortigers)
Around the time of Independence, naturalists estimated that India had nearly 40,000 tigers. As the newly independent nation focused on development, wildlife conservation received far less attention. Hunting continued, and organised shikar remained popular, he tells The Better India.
Tiger numbers declined sharply.
The turning point came with the Wildlife (Protection) Act of 1972, followed by the launch of Project Tiger in 1973. In the years that followed, stronger institutions, better scientific monitoring and improved reserve management helped reverse the decline.
Today, however, India’s challenge has changed.
Some reserves, including Tadoba and Pilibhit, support thriving tiger populations, while other suitable landscapes continue to have very few tigers.
In 2010, at the Tiger Summit in St Petersburg, all 13 tiger-range countries committed to doubling the global wild tiger population by 2022. India achieved that goal, recording an estimated 3,682 wild tigers in its 2022 assessment Photograph: (BaghMitra)
One important lesson, Shethia says, came from the unsuccessful tiger reintroduction effort at Odisha’s Satkosia Tiger Reserve in 2018.
“An ambitious programme to reintroduce tigers to the Satkosia Tiger Reserve in Odisha in 2018 ended when one of the two translocated animals died and the other had to be captured. This incident holds a key lesson, this being that the support of local communities is key to tiger recovery”.
India’s long history of coexistence with wildlife, he believes, remains one of its greatest strengths.
As tigers expand into new landscapes, local communities must become active partners in decisions around recovery, reintroduction and long-term management.
His final message is hopeful.
India’s conservation journey has shown that the country is capable of learning from its mistakes, adapting its approach and improving over time. The next chapter, will depend on the same willingness to listen, learn and work together.
Sandeep K Tiwari: ‘Conservation cannot happen without people’
For Sandeep K Tiwari, Chief of Conservation at the Wildlife Trust of India, one visit to the Sundarbans in 1996 changed the way he understood conservation.
Until then, protecting wildlife had largely been an ecological challenge. But in the Sundarbans Tiger Reserve, he met families who had lost loved ones to tiger attacks.
“That experience impressed upon me a fundamental truth,” he says. “Conservation cannot succeed without addressing the socio-economic realities of local communities.”
Tiwari believes, protecting forests will always remain essential. But restoring the natural connections between them is equally important. Photograph: (X/@mesandeepTiwari)
It was a lesson that has stayed with him ever since.
Looking back, Tiwari believes one of India’s biggest missed opportunities was failing to secure wildlife corridors before forests became increasingly fragmented.
As roads, farms and settlements expanded, many protected areas became isolated ecological islands. Tigers dispersing between forests often had to move through villages and agricultural land, increasing conflict with people while leaving populations cut off from one another.
For him, the future of tiger conservation lies beyond the boundaries of protected areas.
Protecting forests will always remain essential. But restoring the natural connections between them is equally important.
He also believes conservation has evolved in another important way.
Earlier approaches often excluded Indigenous and forest-dependent communities from decision-making. Over time, that weakened trust.
Today, community engagement, voluntary relocation where appropriate, compensation mechanisms and more inclusive conservation planning have begun to change that relationship.
“That progress must continue,” he says.
As India continues to build roads, railways and other infrastructure, Tiwari believes conservation cannot remain an afterthought. Photograph: (Wikipedia/Davidvraju)
Technology, too, has an increasingly important role to play.
Better monitoring, ecological research, genetics and behavioural studies are helping conservationists make more informed decisions than ever before.
But technology alone cannot save wildlife. “The people living alongside forests must be partners in conservation,” he says.
Community-led initiatives, including Primary Response Teams that help manage conflict and support the safe movement of wildlife, show what is possible when local people become part of the solution.
As India continues to build roads, railways and other infrastructure, Tiwari believes conservation cannot remain an afterthought.
Wildlife crossings, green infrastructure and connected landscapes will determine whether today’s conservation successes endure.
When a young person tells him, “I want to save tigers,” his answer is immediate.
“That’s a fantastic idea.”
India needs researchers, policy advocates, communicators, scientists and conservation practitioners, he says. Because protecting tigers is about much more than one species.
“It is about safeguarding the ecosystems that sustain biodiversity, ecological security and ultimately our own survival.”
More than letters, a shared message
Each conservationist tells a different story.
One learnt about the relentless threat of poaching.
Another found lifelong respect for tigers while quietly watching one feed deep inside Kaziranga’s forests.
One reflected on India’s conservation journey and the lessons it offers for the future.
Another discovered, in the Sundarbans, that protecting wildlife is impossible without protecting people.
Yet despite their different experiences, they all arrive at the same conclusion.
Saving tigers has never been only about tigers.
It is about protecting forests before they disappear. Keeping habitats connected. Working alongside communities instead of around them. Supporting the forest guards who patrol every day, often unseen. And recognising that every development decision leaves a lasting mark on wildlife.
Perhaps that is India’s greatest conservation lesson.
As we approach #GlobalTigerDay, we celebrate India’s remarkable tiger recovery, a conservation success over five decades in the making.
From the launch of Project Tiger in 1973 to a network of 58 Tiger Reserves protecting 84,487 km² of forests, India’s journey reflects the power… pic.twitter.com/XafZ6ppoJP
— International Big Cat Alliance (IBCA) (@IBCA_official) July 27, 2026
The country’s tiger recovery was not the work of a single law, organisation or project. It was built over decades by thousands of people, forest guards, scientists, researchers, local communities, policymakers and conservationists — who refused to give up on a species that once seemed destined for decline.
Now, a new generation inherits that responsibility.
Whether they become biologists, engineers, teachers, filmmakers, lawyers or storytellers, each has a role to play in shaping the future of India’s forests.
As these five conservationists remind us, protecting tigers is not simply about ensuring one magnificent animal survives.
It is about safeguarding the forests that clean our air, protect our rivers, support countless other species and ultimately sustain human life itself.
The next chapter of India’s tiger story has not yet been written.
And perhaps it will be shaped by someone reading these words today.
