Tarsh Thekaekara's response (4 September 2010) to our article "Can a Tiger Change its Stripes? The Politics of Conservation as Translated in Mudumalai" is welcomed for opening up in public a debate on tiger reserves that has remained regrettably confined to the corridors of power.

The notification of Mudumalai Sanctuary in Tamil Nadu as a tiger reserve in 2007 has resulted in a contested politics between activists, non-governmental organisations and conservationists with regard to the future of protected area management.