The story of wildlife conservation in India is not just about battling an overbearing, cruel and amoral system of governance but also about overcoming ignorance and public apathy. That is why on World Animal Welfare Day, it feels pertinent to highlight the contributions of certain individuals in our past who not only challenged the status quo but also raised public consciousness and inspired action against the incredible cruelty met to our precious wildlife. To keep alive the memory of their work is to remember what it means to preserve our wildlife. (Above images of Kailash Sankhala, J Vijaya & Rinchen Wangchuk)

1. Rinchen Wangchuk: What it means to co-exist with snow leopards

Despite having a famous father in Colonel Chewang Rinchen, a decorated Ladakhi soldier, Rinchen Wangchuk forged his own path. As a wildlife researcher from Ladakh, he framed a question that would address the fundamental challenge of snow leopard conservation.

How do you reconcile the notion of snow leopard conservation with the needs of local communities who lose their livestock, particularly sheep and goats, to these elusive creatures? To answer this question, he established the Snow Leopard Conservancy-India Trust (SLC-IT) in 2000 to promote local efforts towards community-based conservation efforts.

Besides taking a variety of steps to help local farmers and nomads protect their livestock from snow leopards, thus preventing man-animal conflicts, he also pioneered one of the earliest models of eco-tourism with conservation-linked homestays located in critical snow leopard habitats and along popular trekking routes. These successful models of community-based tourism in the Hemis National Park, the Sham region, and Zanskar still stand today.

He tragically passed away at the age of just 42 in 2011 due to a deteriorating neurological condition but not before leaving behind a stellar legacy.

2. Fateh Singh Rathore: The forest officer who showed India how to protect tigers

Known for his trademark long handlebar moustache, olive-coloured safari hat and dashing dark glasses, the late Fateh Singh Rathore remains the principal architect behind the success story that is the Ranthambhore National Park. As a ranger, warden, and field director at one of India’s best-known tiger preserves, Fateh’s work emphasised three things — natural regeneration of the habitat, constant engagement with local communities living in its vicinity that went way beyond consultations, and an abiding love for the creatures who inhabited this forest.

It became the blueprint for what a successful tiger conservation strategy looks like.

Fateh’s approach to conservation was marked by his incredible knowledge of the terrain inside Ranthambore’s core area and the depth of his engagement with the local community — whether it was relocating 16 villages inhabited in the core area of the........

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