Valmik Thapar (1952-2025) spent almost fifty years serving the interests of wildlife, especially tigers. He wrote over forty books on tigers, Indian wildlife, and his African journeys. Some of his acclaimed books include Living with Tigers, Saving Wild India: A Blueprint for Change, Winged Fire: A Celebration of Indian Birds, Wild Fire: The Splendours of India's Animal Kingdom, and Tiger Fire: 500 Years of the Tiger in India. He presented wildlife-related programmes on BBC and several other television networks. He served the Indian Board for Wildlife (now replaced by the National Board for Wildlife), and the Central Empowered Committee. He was also appointed to the Tiger Task Force in 2006-07.

Thapar created the Ranthambore Foundation, a non-governmental organization dedicated to conserving wildlife. He won the NDTV Indian of the Year Award in 2016, and Sanctuary Nature Foundation's Lifetime Service Award in 2017.