Our Tigers Return

by Rangaiah Sreenivasa Murthy and Peeyush Sekhsaria & illustrated by Aniruddha Ghosh

“Our Tigers Return” by Rangaiah Sreenivasa Murthy and Peeyush Sekhsaria & illustrated by Aniruddha Ghosh. Published by Last Wilderness. A memorable account of the successful Tiger revival project at Panna Tiger Reserve from 2009-2015.

Panna Tiger Reserve is the twenty second Tiger Reserve of India and the fifth in Madhya Pradesh. It had lost all its tigers by 2009 due to three main factors - poaching, biological population stress and management gaps. Two female tigers T1 and T2 were brought to Panna from Bandhavgarh and Kanha in March 2009 to rectify the skewed sex ratio. By then the last male tiger also disappeared.

The park management made a tiger recovery plan with scientific inputs from the Wildlife Institute of India. A male tiger T3 was brought in November 2009 from Penchilayya Tiger Reserve. Thus started an unparalleled first of its kind revival saga with the tireless efforts of the Panna team led by Mr. Rangaiah Sreenivasa Murthy (lovingly known as Murthy uncle) who was the park director at that time. Their commendable work was rewarded with stupendous success. Over 100 Panna Nature camps were conducted within 5 years. By 2015 the lost pride of Bundelkhand was restored to its former glory.

The whole account of the six year long period has been narrated beautifully as a conversation between a schoolgirl from Panna and Murthy uncle who loves sharing the wonders of Panna Tiger Reserve with children. Lots of facts about Panna and its inhabitants have been interspersed in the narrative. Photographs and illustrations complement the write up beautifully. The dedication of the people involved in the project as well as the making of this book can be felt as we read it. The slogan of the Panna Tiger Reserve is “I love my Panna people and tigers”. Goes to show how passionate they are about their work.

This is definitely a MUST READ for all children. Thanks a ton Vidya Mani of Funky Rainbow for recommending this gem of a book!! It deserves to go here, there and everywhere. My seven year old loved the book and enjoyed everything about it. He now keeps talking about it at every opportunity available :) Apt for everyone aged 7 and above. Adults included :) Thank you Peeyush Sekhsaria for creating this book and making the story available for all of us!

Where to buy from?

An independent indie bookstore, Funky Rainbow, from where I buy many of my books.

An inspirational talk by Rangaiah Sreenivasa Murthy that we watched.