WWF pays tribute to Billy Arjan Singh, India's most distinguished tiger conservationist

[Guest guest]

All who want to write messages of remembrance of the Tiger Man Billy Arjan

Singh can post them to <admin who will publish them

alongside his interview which can be read on the Sanctuary Asia website

http://www.sanctuaryasia.com/index.php?option=com_content & view=article & id=601:bi\

lly-arjan-singh & catid=137:interviews-archive-

Joydip and Suchandra Kundu

 

Billy Arjan Singh was one of the distinguished contributors to 'Beyond the

Bars : The Zoo Dilemma' edited by Virginia McKenna, Will Travers and

Jonathan Wray in 1987. And at a time when animal rights was practically

unheard of in India, he contributed a critique of the zoo concept to

'Compassionate Friend', the newsletter of Beauty Without Cruelty in India.

In that article he questioned the ethics of animal experimentation too.

Ironically, he was a close friend of John Aspinall, the founder of Howletts

and Port Lympne zoos in England. Aspinall, no shirker of controversy

himself, writing in the foreword to

the book 'The Legend of the Man Eater' about critics of Billy Arjan Singh

mentioned, " Billy has of course been criticised by many experts who disagree

with his methods. In this regard I can only say that envy is the constant

tribute mediocrity pays to genius. "

WWF tribute attached together with an extract from 'Eelie and the Big

Cats.' One of my childhood heroes as a contributor to the Junior Statesman,

he was a colossus of the kind India will never countenance again.He espoused

the cause of animal rights long before it became sexy, fashionable and

politically correct in a country like India. He may have been

a flawed man, as most human beings tend to be, but as far as animal

conservation goes, he was one of the great men of our day, and the magnitude

of his contribution is only now beginning to sink in.

 

 

http://www.sanctuaryasia.com/index.php?option=com_content & view=article & id=601:bi\

lly-arjan-singh & catid=137:interviews-archive

 

---------- Forwarded message ----------

<sghosh

Thu, Jan 7, 2010 at 6:38 PM

Fw: WWF-India remembers ‘Billy’ Arjan Singh, the legendary tiger

conservationist

To:

 

 

Regards

 

Programme Officer

TRAFFIC India

WWF India Secretariat

172-B, Lodi Estate, N.Delhi 110003, India

Tel: +91-11-41504786, Fax: +91-11-43516200

Visit us at " www.traffic.org "

 

TRAFFIC- the wildlife trade monitoring network- is a joint programme of WWF

and IUCN-The World Conservation Union. It works to ensure that trade in wild

plants and animals is not a threat to conservation of nature.

----- Forwarded by /wwfindia on 01/07/2010 06:38 PM -----

G Areendran/wwfindia Users 01/07/2010 01:05 PM Fw:

WWF-India remembers ‘Billy’ Arjan Singh, the legendary tiger conservationist

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Ameen Ahmed/wwfindia G Areendran/wwfindia@wwfindia 01/07/2010

12:06 PM WWF-India remembers ‘Billy’ Arjan Singh, the legendary

tiger conservationist

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Dear WWFers,

 

As you might have heard, legendary tiger conservationist ‘Billy’ Arjan Singh

passed away on New Year's day this year. Below is some information on him

and his association with WWF-India. We are also paying homage to him by

displaying his picture along with one of his sayings, in the lobby of our

Secretariat.

 

Best regards,

Ameen

 

Ameen Ahmed

Senior Manager - Communications,

WWF-India

 

----------------------------

 

*Legendary conservationist Arjan Singh - “Billy” as he was popularly known,

passed away on 1 January 2010, at the age of 92. For more than 70 years, he

battled to secure a safe future for tigers in India. In 1988, his efforts

led to the establishment of Dudhwa Tiger Reserve – among the world’s finest

tiger habitat. WWF-India remembers his services to conservation and

association with the organisation.*

 

*Early days*

“Billy” was born in Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh, on 15 August 1917, and raised

in the then princely state of Balrampur. His father, Jasbir Singh, came from

the royal family of Kapurthala, and served as a Special Manager for the

nominal ruler of Balrampur, then still a minor. Billy’s love for wildlife

was abundantly evident from his childhood days. Though he started as a

hunter, by the time he was thirty, he gave up shikar and thereafter devoted

his entire life to the conservation of wildlife.

 

Conservation was a little known concept in the years directly following

India’s independence - few having heard or paid any heed to it. But for

Billy it had become a passion. Reluctant to be separated from this area of

the Terai and its animals, Billy decided to abjure any occupation which

would take him away from this beloved land and its animals. He took up

farming and set up his own farm - “Tiger Haven”, on the outskirts of what is

today known as the Dudhwa Tiger Reserve. Close to his favourite habitat,

Billy had the opportunity to observe wildlife in its natural surroundings

and he made full use of his unique choice. He lived there till his final

breath.

 

*Billy's gift to Terai Arc*

If Dudhwa is one of India’s finest tiger reserves today, the credit for

recognizing its potential must go entirely to Billy Arjan Singh. It was his

love for the forests of Dudhwa that made him approach the then Prime

Minister of India, Mrs Indira Gandhi, to have it declared a tiger reserve

under the prestigious Project Tiger. He pursued the matter with great

tenacity and the area was finally declared a Project Tiger reserve in 1988.

Today, Dudhwa National Park is home to tigers, elephants and rhinos, and a

vital link in the Terai Arc Landscape, where WWF-India is currently working.

It is among the prime citadels for tiger conservation and connects the

important tiger habitats of India and Nepal.

 

*Inspiration of a generation*

Billy is the author of several books on Dudhwa, among which are Tara: The

Tigress and Prince of Cats, based on his hand reared big cats. He has made a

deep impact and impression on the generations following him. Individuals of

all age groups, who have read Billy’s books on his experiences and his

conservation efforts or have visited Dudhwa have been fired by his passion

and some have been inspired to follow in his footsteps. Billy’s personal

courage whether facing poachers, or in situations which put him at grave

physical risk or whilst facing controversy is well-known.

 

*Work recognised*

Billy was a recipient of many awards for his commitment to conservation. In

2004, Billy received the coveted J.Paul Getty Wildlife Conservation Award

which is administered by WWF on behalf of the Getty family. The award

recognises innovation in the field of conservation and in creating public

awareness.

 

Billy was recognized by the national and state governments of India as a

pioneer of tiger conservation and received many awards. This included

India's national civilian award the Padma Shri (1995). In 2006 he received

the Padma Bhushan, which was welcomed by Ravi Singh, SG & CEO, WWF-India as

“a great moment for all of us in the conservation world”. In the same year

he was conferred the Yash Bharati award by the then Chief Minister of Uttar

Pradesh at the state capital Lucknow. As a true conservationist, Billy, in

his brief speech at the award ceremony, called upon the state government to

provide more financial assistance to the Dudhwa National Park. He was also a

recipient of the World Wildlife Fund gold medal (1996) and the Order of the

Golden Ark (1997).

 

*True conservationist and a friend of WWF*

Billy was a true conservationist at heart and always spoke of survival of

Dudhwa’s wildlife in the conversations he had with various people. Billy was

particularly close to WWF-India. He often corresponded and visited its

secretariat in Delhi and was felicitated by it on several occasions. Billy’s

passion inspired WWF-India’s to involve itself more closely in the Terai

arc. He likened Dudhwa as the fulcrum of the Terai arc and spoke about this

to Mr. Ravi Singh, Secretary General & CEO, WWF-India, on a number of

occasions.

 

Samir Sinha, IFS, head of TRAFFIC-India says “He held very strong views and

would regularly type away letters on his trusty typewriter to flag his

concerns on issues that he considered important. Though his prolific writing

was curtailed due to the physical effort of typing in his last years, even

with failing health, his eyes would light up at the mention of the tiger and

he was always eager to engage in efforts in support of this majestic

animal.”

 

His zest for the Dudhwa never dimmed even into his last days. His last

desire was that when his end came he should be in the “saddle,” doing what

he knows best - looking after his kin - the denizens of Dudhwa. In a letter

to Mr. Ravi Singh in July 2008, he wrote “time is not on my side and I still

dare to hope that the last tiger will not be at the Pearly Gates when I

arrive”.

 

In this fast changing world, his saying, “the air we breathe and the water

we drink stem from the biodiversity of the universal environment and its

economics. The tiger is at the centre of this truth. If it goes, we go”, is

more true than ever.

 

*For images of Billy and a list of his books and movies, please see **

http://wwfindia.org/?3880/Tiger-walla-departs*<http://wwfindia.org/?3880/Tiger-w\

alla-departs>

* *

 

-------

Species and Landscapes Programme,

WWF-India, 172B Lodhi Estate,

New Delhi - 1100 03

www.wwfindia.org

 

 

* " **Visitors were always amazed by the discrimination with which you would

watch screenings of the Anglia Television film '**The Leopard that Changed

Its Spots’, in which you played a strong supporting role. The moment Harriet

appeared, you would get up and go behind the screen in search of your former

companion, but when the film moved to Sri Lanka and showed the wild leopards

there, you would start barking at the sight of your natural enemies. Here

was final proof – as if I needed any – that all your life you had recognized

my big cats as individual beings, rather than as members of a species. *

 

* Your end, when it came, arrived with inexorable finality. You were in your

fourteenth year when a cancer appeared on your breast and took over with

unbelievable violence. Your black rimmed eyes were still as bright as

buttons, but they became tinged with unu**tter**able pain until, in April,

1984, a merciful death closed them for ever. *

 

* With your passing, a pa**rt of my own life had come to a close. My

inseparable companion for over thirteen years, you had been an integral part

of my experiments with the great cats, and you had contributed immeasurably

to my understanding of their nature. Your strong yet sympathetic personality

formed a unique bridge between the artificial, domestic world of man and

the immutable but much tortured world of nature. For me, you were the

ultimate dog. And although Tara was certainly still alive, and Prince may

have been, with your death an era had ended.*

 

* We laid you to rest beside the spot where the remains of Juliette and

Harriet were already interred, and where, I myself plan to be buried one

day. Thirteen years ago, you had arrived unwanted and unloved ; and now, as

you departed, I wept beside your grave.*

 

* So there it is. I said I would write about our time together so that I

could share it with others , and although the **task has often made me sad,

I have enjoyed it too. Now I must say farewell. But you may rest assured

that I will never forget you, wherever your spirit may be. " *

 

* *

 

* Your lifelong friend,*

 

* *

 

* Billy.*

 

**

 

*Extract from 'EELIE AND THE BIG CATS' by BILLY ARJAN SINGH, OXFORD

UNIVERSITY PRESS.*