WILD FIRE

Developed and edited by Valmik
Thapar, one of our foremost wildlife experts, the book is divided into three
sections. The first section, ?Thoughts from Elsewhere?, written by Thapar,
takes the reader on a quick tour of the country?s natural heritage in the
twenty-first century. It provides an overview of mammalian distribution, the
characteristics of individual species, the evolution of the country?s
wildlife habitats, threats to the environment and much else besides. The
second section, ?The Wildlife Chronicles?collects the finest accounts of
India?s animals from the first century onwards. It has stories about the
great predators?tigers, leopards, snow leopards, lions, golden cats and
others; magnificent herbivores like the elephant, rhino, wild ox and the
various species of deer and antelope; evocative accounts of some of the most
striking animals in the country including monkeys, squirrels and other
arboreal creatures; as well as reports of rare sightings of river dolphins,
bats, shrews and other lesser-known members of the animal kingdom.
Contributors to this section include travellers, hunters, writers,
photographers and naturalists such as Pliny the Elder, Ibn Battuta, Babur,
Akbar, Fran?ois Bernier, Isabel Savory, Jim Corbett, George Schaller, Kenneth
Anderson, M. Krishnan, E.R.C. Davidar, Peter Jackson and Ruskin Bond. The
third section, ?Wild Fire?, contains a selection of some of the finest
photographs ever taken of India?s mammals. The most comprehensive book on
Indian mammals ever published.? Content
culled from over a million words on Indian mammals by the world?s top
wildlife writers. Rare pictures selected from tens of thousands of exclusive
pictures by the world?s top wildlife photographers. Most of the world?s top
writers on Indian mammals represented in the volume. Some of these pictures
have never been seen before. Written and edited by one of India?s greatest
living naturalists, Valmik Thapar.