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My Life as a Wildlife Biologist

By A.J.T. Johnsingh

Memories of my early boyhood are full of scenes from my native village, Anaigudi, where my paternal grandparents lived. Anaigudi lies near the southern tip of India, less than two km from the Bay of Bengal. Bluish-green waves rise from the sea, forming spiraling white waves that lap the black rocks and froth and roll on the cream-colored sandy shore. Red sand dunes, on which palm (Borassus flabellifer) and ficus (Ficus bengalensis) trees stand buried, enabling the fronds and canopy to caress the ground, stretch between the sea and the village. Fan-throated lizards (Scitana ponticeriana) scurry on the sand dunes to a background of cooing ring doves (Streptopelia decaocta) and the calls of grey partridge (Francolinus ponticerianus).

As with many people, there were some turning points in my life. One was my accidental discovery of a Tamil translation of Man-eaters of Kumaon, one of six books written by Jim Corbett, in the library of Nanguneri, a small town where my parents were working as school teachers. Jim Corbett, a Briton, was born and raised in India. During the early 1900s he shot ten man-eating tigers and leopards that had killed 1500 people. But for Jim Corbett, these cats would have killed many more people. In most cases, Jim Corbett tracked and shot the man-eaters, often alone and on foot. His lucid writings, loaded with natural history and excellent information on the behavior of animals, stimulated my inborn interest in wildlife.

Another turning point was my chance meeting with J.C. Daniel of the Bombay Natural History Society in May, 1971, in the southern Western Ghats (a mountain range extending from Bombay to the tip of south India). By this time, I had finished my postgraduate degree in zoology and was a working as a lecturer in a college. Daniel's encouragement eventually led me to study dholes, or Asiatic wild dogs (Cuon alpinus), in Bandipur Tiger Reserve in south India for my Ph.D. from 1976 to 1978. My dissertation was the first study conducted in India, by an Indian, on a free-ranging large mammal. Bandipur Tiger Reserve has an abundance of wildlife, including a high density of elephants (Elephas maximus) and tigers (Panthera tigris). Because my study was carried out on foot, I had close encounters with species such as Russell's viper (Vipera russelli), common cobra (Naja naja), gaur (Bos gaurus), elephant, and tiger. The Reserve also is full of minute ticks. As a result, by the end of the two-year study, my body became pitted with numerous itching black dots as if I had a serious attack of chicken pox.

During this study and afterwards, I met several eminent individuals who encouraged me to pursue a career in wildlife research and conservation. Salim Ali, the birdman of India, with whom I later worked briefly, was among them. Whenever Ali met me while I was studying dholes, he would say, "Johnsingh, I am happy that you are still alive!" I also spent a few days in the Reserve with Val Geist, then from the University of Calgary, Canada. A leading authority on ungulates, Geist had come to India to assist one of Madhav Gadgil's students at Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, with behavioral studies on chital (Axis axis). In Geist I found a passionate wildlifer. He would say, "Johnsingh, let us freeze among the rocks and observe animals."

At Bandipur, I was fortunate to meet Devra Kleiman and the late John F. Eisenberg, then from the Smithsonian Institution. Eisenberg, the foremost authority on mammals, saw in me a raw wildlife biologist. In 1980, he arranged a fellowship for me at the Conservation Research Center at Front Royal, Virginia, a facility owned by the Smithsonian Institution. Here, my post-doctoral research supervisor was John Seidensticker, an expert on puma (Felis concolor), leopard (P. pardus), and tiger. Seidensticker continues to be my guru and mentor. While at the Conservation Research Center, I met George Schaller, one of the world's greatest wildlife biologists. Schaller, who had read my thesis on dholes, advised me that after I returned to India, I should not end up in a university teaching 90% of my time. I have tried to live up to his advice.

I returned to India in 1981 and J.C. Daniel helped me with a job as the Project Scientist on their Asian Elephant Project. I joined the Wildlife Institute of India in 1985. Since then, my students and I have studied several large mammal species such as Asian elephant, Asian lion (Panthera leo persica), tiger, sloth bear (Melursus ursinus), Himalayan ibex (Capra ibex sibirica), goral (Nemorhaedus goral), Nilgiri tahr (Hemitragus hylocrius), Nilgiri langur (Trachypithecus johnii) and grizzled giant squirrel (Ratufa macroura). As a result of this varied experience I represent IUCN (World Conservation Union) on their Caprinae, Cat, Canid, Asian Elephant, and Bear specialist groups. My students and I also have carried out several projects on birds. Our research findings have contributed to establishment of Grizzled Giant Squirrel Wildlife Sanctuary and Kalakad Mundanthurai Tiger Reserve in the southern Western Ghats. Our work has been used to inform relocation of pastoral gujjars, who were destroying wildlife habitat with their numerous buffaloes, from portions of Rajaji National Park in the foothills of the Himalaya; these actions have stimulated the recovery of wildlife in the Park. We helped to identify a potential home for establishment of a second population of Asiatic lions, which face an uncertain future because they occur only in one location, Further, our research has contributed to development of a Vision Document for tiger conservation in the Terai Arc Landscape, stretching from forests west of Yamuna river to Valmiki Tiger Reserve in Bihar.

Between April and December 1994, under the United Nations Development Programme and Viet Nam Global Environment Facility Project, I conducted training programs and prepared training manuals for protected area forest guards and protected area managers in Viet Nam. I have also taught Smithsonian Wildlife Conservation and Management Training Programs in China and India, and trained wildlife personnel in Bhutan in methods to evaluate depredation on livestock by dholes. Over the years, my field research has enabled me to publish 71 scientific papers and 81 popular articles on wildlife conservation. I am in the process of co-editing, with Nima Manjrekar, The Mammals of South Asia. This book will contain 68 chapters on different species and groups of mammals contributed by 77 authors from India and abroad. George Schaller has written the Foreward for the book. Based on my popular articles written from 1972 onwards, the book On Jim Corbett's Trail and Other Tales From Tree-tops, published by Permanent Black, New Delhi, was released in March 2004. This book covers 15 of my popular articles. Universities Press and Orient Longman, Hyderabad, has agreed to publish the mammal book and bulk of the rest of my articles in the form of a book, The Ramblings of a Naturalist.

At Wildlife Institute of India in Dehra Dun, where I work now as Dean of the Faculty of Wildlife Sciences, I have contributed to the training of more than 300 forest officers from India and southeast Asia, many of whom manage protected areas across southeast Asia. These officers and students are an invaluable part of the force behind the conservation programs that try to safeguard the biodiversity and ecosystem values of southeast Asia for the benefit of mankind.

A.J.T. Johnsingh received a 2004 Distinguished Service Award from the Society for Conservation Biology for his dedication to improving the quality of wildlife science and conservation in south Asia. Johnsingh catalyzed conservation efforts by employing trained field biologists to work with managers in government departments, ensuring the translation of new information into applied field conservation. Many of his papers on mammals in India are the only source of information on these species; his work has improved protection for species and ecosystems. He has inspired and motivated a generation of wildlife biologists and managers.

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