Fateh Singh Rathore

Fateh Singh Rathore was born in Choradia village in Jodhpur district of Rajasthan. He was the eldest son in a family of 6 boys and 5 girls. His grandfather Laxman Singh Rathore was a major in the army. Rathore's father, Sagat Singh, was the eldest son of Laxman Singh. He was a police officer and managed the family's land and property in their village near Jodhpur. His mother died in February 2010. Rathore's uncles, one in the army, and the other a lawyer, helped bring him up. He was sent away to Col. Brown Cambridge School, a boarding school, in Dehra Dun and later stayed with an uncle while a college student. He was uninterested in his studies, although his uncle wanted him to be a lawyer. Rathore graduated from the Rajputana University in 1960. After working as a store clerk and selling coal, Rathore was offered a job as a park ranger by an uncle who had become deputy minister of forests in Rajasthan. ==Conservation work==

Rathore joined the Rajasthan Forest Service on the advice of his uncle. One of his first jobs was organising tiger hunts in the area which later became Ranthambhore National Park (RNP) during a visit by the Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh in January 1961. The first tiger he ever saw was one shot by the Duke: "I was not in love with the tiger at the time. We were very happy that we succeeded," he recalled. He loved the forest service, and grew very interested in conservation. He was posted as a game warden at Sariska when there were still tigers there. He worked at Mount Abu Game Reserve between 1963 and 1970. Rathore was posted in 1971 as game warden in Ranthambhore. ==Honours and awards==

Rathore received several awards and honours in recognition of his tiger conservation work. • 1982 - Fred M. Packard Award by the IUCN Commission on National Parks and Protected Areas in recognition of outstanding service in furthering the conservation objective of protected areas. Given by the Duke of Edinburgh. • 1983 - International Valour Award for bravery in conservation. • Esso Award by Shri I.K. Gujral, Former Prime Minister of India for lifetime achievement in Tiger Conservation. • 1999 - Honorary Wildlife Warden of Ranthambhore National Park • 2011 - World Wildlife Fund lifetime achievement award ==Publications==

Picture and articles by FSR about wild tigers in Ranthambhore have been published in several books and periodicals including: ==References==