Among Tigers

Drawn to nature since childhood, Ullas Karanth became the first person in India to radio-track its fabled tigers. He continued studying them for decades, and his book takes us with him down tropical forest paths to gain insights about Asia's most powerful carnivore--often at startlingly close range. Yet what distinguishes Among Tigers is the way it also brings readers deep into the realities of conservation in a crowded, rapidly developing country. That Karanth's resolve to improve tiger protection never wavered despite interference from power-hungry politicians and entrenched bureaucrats is important. Why? Because it a good part of the reason why India, which held had fewer than 300 tigers in the 1970s, now hosts around 3,000 of the estimated 5,000 left on Earth. --Douglas Chadwick, author of Four-Fifths a Grizzly and The Wolverine Way Karanth takes us on a roller coaster ride through the jungles of South India, alternatingly describing his detailed field work and the life of tigers versus the messy world of tiger politics--regionally, nationally, and internationally. Mincing no words, Karanth makes the case for science-based conservation of tigers and the need for hard, grind-it-out field work, but also explains why science is not enough. To save tigers, Karanth demonstrates through his own efforts the need for politically astute and stubbornly tenancious tiger 'wallahs, ' the people who fight to save the last realms of the tiger. A great read and a great story by a person who dedicated his life to the tigers of India. --Dale Miquelle, coordinator, Wildlife Conservation Society Tiger Program This book is a must read for anyone interested in the science and conservation of wild tigers in the last five decades. It also highlights ignorance of the new forest bureaucracies that now rule the land of the tiger without any vision whatsoever. --Valmik Thapar, author of Tiger Fire and Saving Wild India Ullas Karanth describes his evolution from scientist to conservationist, and fills one with hope that science can show a way through the thicket of competing political and commercial interests, and ultimately allow a way for wild tigers and people to co-exist. --John Robinson, Joan L. Tweedy Chair in Conservation Strategy, Wildlife Conservation Society Ullas Karanth's book Among Tigers is a riveting and timely account with the data, analyses, and insights that are essential if this beautiful cat, beloved by so many, is to survive in the wild. Masterfully written, Among Tigers is a conservation classic. --George B. Schaller, senior conservationist, Wildlife Conservation Society, and author of Into Wild Mongolia