Col Kesri Singh Kanota The "Tiger"

by Thakur Raghunath Singh Kanota

Col. Kesri Singh Kanota (1893–1980) was educated at Mayo College, Ajmer. He served in the Forest Departments of Kashmir, Gwalior, and Jaipur States. His deep, on-foot exploration of jungles gave him extraordinary knowledge of wildlife.

Notably, he reintroduced lions in Gwalior’s Shivpuri forest—now a Project Tiger Reserve—and rescued five tiger cubs from Jhalana (now Jaipur's Leopard Reserve), raising them at home. When one grown cub knocked him down, he moved them to Jaipur Zoo.

This 160-page book goes beyond personal experiences, offering deep insights into modern tiger conservation challenges, the economics of tiger tourism, and the tangible and intangible benefits of India’s Tiger Reserves. It also covers the behavior of wild species like Leopard, Tiger, Sloth Bear, Wild Dog, and Wild Boar.

Col. Kesri’s passions extended to architecture—he designed and built the Kesar Garh castle—and even to cooking, with rare moments captured in over 100 photographs. In a unique display of devotion, he even painted his Ambassador car with tiger motifs.

200 pages, Paperback

First published May 25, 2025

Reviews

[Saurabh Kumar · Rating 2 out of 5]

Had the potential of being a terrific tribute to the legendary Colonel Kesri Singh, but the editing, grammar and sequencing is horrendous. To the point that it is difficult to overlook.