Bittu Sahgal on nearing four decades of Sanctuary Asia, and why tigers are the forest’s best chowkidars | Lifestyle News, The Indian Express

Bittu Sahgal on nearing four decades of Sanctuary Asia, and why tigers are the forest’s best chowkidars | Lifestyle News, The Indian Express

Written by Parth Khatau |Updated: April 17, 2019 2:02:50 pm

Bittu Sahgal on nearing four decades of Sanctuary Asia, and why tigers are the forest’s best chowkidars

Running a conservation magazine has its own issues, as Sahgal has discovered over the years. “People accuse us of being spoilsports all the time, but they are turning a blind eye to nature,” he says.

Bittu Sahgal (Express photo by Nirmal Harindran)

AS THE bonfire crackled at Jogi Mahal, a fort located in the heart of Ranthambhore National Park in Rajasthan, Bittu Sahgal found a cause to chase down. “This was way back in 1980 when I was there for a tiger safari and was spending time with Fateh Singh Rathore, the Field Director of Ranthambhore,” says Sahgal. “I realised that while I was having a jolly good time, people like Fateh were struggling to protect wildlife,” he adds. In the conversation that ensued, Rathore encouraged Sahgal to start his own wildlife magazine to spread the message of conserving our flora and fauna. “He told me there were so many magazines on politics and sports but none on wildlife, and the message needs to be spread,” says Sahgal. And so, Sanctuary Asia was born. In October 1981, Sahgal took the first copy of the magazine and presented it to Rathore, much to the latter’s surprise.