A NOTE ON OUR DEAR FOUNDER

Fateh Singh Rathore (10 August 1938-1 March 2011) is India's best known tiger conservationist. Fateh Singh joined the Indian Forest Service in 1960 and was part of the first Project Tiger team. He is widely acknowledged as the Tiger Guru for his legendary knowledge of the big cat. He worked over 50 years in wildlife conservation. Mr. Rathore was noted for his pioneering relocation of villages from inside the Ranthambhore National Park in 1973-75. Largely because of Mr. Rathore, Ranthambhore became the place which brought the tiger to the consciousness of people, the world over.

Early life

Fateh Singh Rathore was born in Choradia village in Jodhpur district of Rajasthan. He was the eldest son in a family of 6 boys and 6 girls. His Grandfather Laxman Singh Rathore was a Subedar in the army, Rathore's father, Sagat Singh, was the eldest son of Laxman Singh. He was a police officer and managed the family's land and property in their village near Jodhpur. His mother loved him very dearly, and was a very bold lady, protecting him from his grandfather's anger when he was mischievious. She died in February 2010.

One of Rathore's uncles, in the army, and the other a lawyer, helped bring him up. He was sent away to a boarding school, and later stayed with an uncle while a college student. He was not interested in his studies, preferring to take part in dramas etc. and having fun. His uncle wanted him to be a lawyer, but his heart was not in it. Rathore graduated from the Rajputana University in 1960. After working as a store clerk and selling coal, Rathore was offered a job as park ranger by an uncle who had become Deputy Minister of Forests in Rajasthan.

Conservation work

Rathore joined the Rajasthan Forest Service on the advice of his uncle. One of his first jobs was organising tiger hunts in the area, which later became Ranthambhore National Park, for the visit by Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh, in January 1961. The first tiger he ever saw, was one shot by the Duke: "I was not in love with the tiger at the time. We were very happy that we succeeded," he recalled. He loved the forest service, and grew very interested in conservation. He was posted as a game warden at Sariska, when there were still tigers there. He worked at Mount Abu Game Reserve between 1963 and 1970. Rathore was posted in 1971 as game warden in Ranthambhore. The area of RNP, though degraded, still existed as a forest because it was the game reserve of the royal family of Jaipur. He was sent to the Wildlife Institute of India for training, in the first batch of forest officers to be trained there in 1969. While there, he showed a greater aptitude for field work and was not too interested in theory. He fared well there and his guru, S.R. Choudhury, recognised his potential.

 “Project Tiger”

Project Tiger (PT) was started in 1973 at the instance of Indira Gandhi, who was very concerned about the fact that the number of wild tigers was reducing because of hunting. Hunting was banned from then on, and 9 reserves were selected under PT. Ranthambhore was one of them. Rathore was sent there as the Assistant Field Director, but was given a free hand by his seniors. At that time, the area looked very different. There were wheat fields where Padam Talao now stands - there had been an artificially created lake there, which the villagers had drained for their agriculture, and he restored the lake along with Raj Bagh and Malik Talao. Today Ranthambhore National Park is far removed from what it was. It is a pleasure to see wild life thriving. People from the corners of the world come with one intention-to see the majestic Indian Tiger which they very often do.