Billy Arjan Singh
Encyclopedia
Kunwar "Billy" Arjan Singh (15 August 1917 — 1 January 2010) was an India
n hunter turned conservationist
and author. He was the first who tried to reintroduce tigers
and leopards
from captivity into the wild.
Billy Arjan Singh died peacefully at his original farmhouse Jasbir Nagar on 1 January 2010. He remained unmarried all his life.
on 15 August 1917 as the second son of Kunwar Jasbir Singh, CIE
(1887–1942), a member of the royal Ahluwalia dynasty of Kapurthala
. His grandfather was Raja Harnam Singh, Raja Maharaj Singh
was his uncle, Rajkumari Amrit Kaur
was his aunt and his elder brother was Air Vice-Marshal Kunwar Jaswant Singh, PVSM (1915–1963) In 1940, Singh was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant
in the British Indian Army
and was posted to the south of Iraq. Upon his return to India he purchased a farm in the remote district of Lakhimpur Kheri
and built himself a home - named in honour of his father - Jasbir Nagar. He settled down to a life of farming and hunting. Nearly ten years later, he also acquired an estate on the borders of the forestry reserve at Dudhwa. This came to be known as Tiger Haven and it is there that he lived for most of the rest of his life.
in the neighbouring Sathiana range of the forestry reserve at Dudhwa.
In 1976, he was awarded the World Wildlife Fund's Gold Medal, the WWF's premier award, for his conservation work. He was also largely responsible for persuading the then Prime Minister Mrs Indira Gandhi
to transform Dudhwa
into a 200 square miles (518 km²) national park.
Singh's work with wildlife is best known for his reintroduction of both leopards and tiger into the wild. He started by bringing up an orphaned male leopard cub, which he called Prince, and subsequently two female leopards, Harriet and Juliette. All were allowed to roam free and in the case of Prince, returned ultimately to the wild. While Juliette had cubs, they and the mother subsequently perished, either because of flooding or, in the case of both Juliette and Harriet because of poisoning, probably by local farmers.
With Mrs. Gandhi's backing, Singh then brought a tigress cub - christened Tara - from an English zoo and reintroduced her successfully in to the wild. This extraordinary experiment was well documented in his subsequent books as also in a film made by Anglia Survival. Tara successfully produced a litter of cubs. While some accused Singh of introducing Siberian tiger genes, he himself had little regard for such criticism, believing that it would have enhanced the local gene pool.
in England
in July 1976 was trained by Billy Arjan Singh and reintroduced
to the wild in Dudhwa National Park
, India
with the permission of India's then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi
in an attempt to prove the experts wrong that zoo bred hand reared Tigers can ever be released in the wild with success. In the 1990s, some tigers from Dhudhwa were observed which had the typical appearance of Siberian tigers: white complexion, pale fur, large head and wide stripes. With recent advances in science it was subsequently found that Siberian Tigers gene
s have polluted the otherwise pure Bengal Tiger
gene pool of Dudhwa National Park. It was proved later that Twycross Zoo had been irresponsible and maintained no breeding records and had given India a hybrid Siberian-Bengal Tigress instead. Dudhwa tigers constitute about 1% of India's total wild population, but the possibility exists of this genetic pollution
spreading to other tiger groups, at its worst, this could jeopardize the Bengal tiger as a distinct subspecies
in 1975, one of India's highest civilian national awards. This award was closely followed by the World Wildlife Gold Medal in 1976, then the Order of the Golden Ark
only a year later as well as the Lifetime Award for Tiger Conservation. In 2004, at the age of 86, Billy Arjan Singh received the J. Paul Getty Wildlife Conservation award — a global honour administered by the World Wildlife Fund — in recognition of his outstanding contribution to international conservation. He has been honored subsequently with several more awards, including the Padma Bhushan
in 2006.
His biography Honorary tiger : the life of Billy Arjan Singh was written by Duff Hart-Davis
and published in 2005 by Lotus Collection, Roli Books, New Delhi.
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
n hunter turned conservationist
Conservationist
Conservationists are proponents or advocates of conservation. They advocate for the protection of all the species in an ecosystem with a strong focus on the natural environment...
and author. He was the first who tried to reintroduce tigers
Bengal Tiger
The Bengal tiger is a tiger subspecies native to the Indian subcontinent that in 2010 has been classified as endangered by IUCN...
and leopards
Indian leopard
The Indian leopard is a leopard subspecies widely distributed on the Indian subcontinent. It is one of the five big cats found in India, apart from Asiatic lion, Bengal tiger, snow leopard and clouded leopard....
from captivity into the wild.
Billy Arjan Singh died peacefully at his original farmhouse Jasbir Nagar on 1 January 2010. He remained unmarried all his life.
Early life
Kunwar "Billy" Arjan Singh was born in GorakhpurGorakhpur
Gorakhpur is a city in the eastern part of the state of Uttar Pradesh in India, near the border with Nepal. It is the administrative headquarters of Gorakhpur District and Gorakhpur Division. Gorakhpur is one of the proposed capitals of the Purvanchal state which is yet to be formed...
on 15 August 1917 as the second son of Kunwar Jasbir Singh, CIE
Order of the Indian Empire
The Most Eminent Order of the Indian Empire is an order of chivalry founded by Queen Victoria in 1878. The Order includes members of three classes:#Knight Grand Commander #Knight Commander #Companion...
(1887–1942), a member of the royal Ahluwalia dynasty of Kapurthala
Kapurthala
Kapurthala is a city in Punjab state of India. It is the administrative headquarters of Kapurthala District. It was the capital of the Kapurthala State, a princely state in British India. The secular and aesthetic mix of the city with its prominent buildings based on French and Indo-Saracenic...
. His grandfather was Raja Harnam Singh, Raja Maharaj Singh
Raja Maharaj Singh
Raja Sir Maharaj Singh, CIE, CStJ was the first Indian Governor of Bombay....
was his uncle, Rajkumari Amrit Kaur
Rajkumari Amrit Kaur
Dame Rajkumari Amrit Kaur DStJ was the health minister in the Indian Cabinet for ten years after India's independence from the British Raj in 1947. She was an eminent Gandhian, a freedom fighter, and a social activist....
was his aunt and his elder brother was Air Vice-Marshal Kunwar Jaswant Singh, PVSM (1915–1963) In 1940, Singh was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant
Second Lieutenant
Second lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces.- United Kingdom and Commonwealth :The rank second lieutenant was introduced throughout the British Army in 1871 to replace the rank of ensign , although it had long been used in the Royal Artillery, Royal...
in the British Indian Army
British Indian Army
The British Indian Army, officially simply the Indian Army, was the principal army of the British Raj in India before the partition of India in 1947...
and was posted to the south of Iraq. Upon his return to India he purchased a farm in the remote district of Lakhimpur Kheri
Lakhimpur Kheri
Lakhimpur Kheri is a district of Uttar Pradesh in the Lucknow division. It is located in India along the border with Nepal. The headquarters of the Lakhimpur Kheri District are situated in the city of Lakhimpur....
and built himself a home - named in honour of his father - Jasbir Nagar. He settled down to a life of farming and hunting. Nearly ten years later, he also acquired an estate on the borders of the forestry reserve at Dudhwa. This came to be known as Tiger Haven and it is there that he lived for most of the rest of his life.
Hunter turned conservationist
Singh described how in his youth he had been an insatiable hunter. However, one day having shot a young leopard in the lights of his vehicle, he dramatically changed his view of hunting, feeling nothing but revulsion for killing and vowing that from then on he would pursue the cause of conservation. His first major project was to save a herd of barasinghaBarasingha
The Barasingha or Swamp deer is a deer species currently found in isolated localities in north and central India, and southwestern Nepal, and is extinct in Pakistan and Bangladesh....
in the neighbouring Sathiana range of the forestry reserve at Dudhwa.
In 1976, he was awarded the World Wildlife Fund's Gold Medal, the WWF's premier award, for his conservation work. He was also largely responsible for persuading the then Prime Minister Mrs Indira Gandhi
Indira Gandhi
Indira Priyadarshini Gandhara was an Indian politician who served as the third Prime Minister of India for three consecutive terms and a fourth term . She was assassinated by Sikh extremists...
to transform Dudhwa
Dudhwa National Park
Dudhwa National Park is located in the Terai of Uttar Pradesh, India and covers an area of 680 km2 with a buffer area of almost 190 km2. In altitude it ranges from about to . The international border with Nepal forms the northern boundary, and the River Suheli the southern boundary. Its...
into a 200 square miles (518 km²) national park.
Singh's work with wildlife is best known for his reintroduction of both leopards and tiger into the wild. He started by bringing up an orphaned male leopard cub, which he called Prince, and subsequently two female leopards, Harriet and Juliette. All were allowed to roam free and in the case of Prince, returned ultimately to the wild. While Juliette had cubs, they and the mother subsequently perished, either because of flooding or, in the case of both Juliette and Harriet because of poisoning, probably by local farmers.
With Mrs. Gandhi's backing, Singh then brought a tigress cub - christened Tara - from an English zoo and reintroduced her successfully in to the wild. This extraordinary experiment was well documented in his subsequent books as also in a film made by Anglia Survival. Tara successfully produced a litter of cubs. While some accused Singh of introducing Siberian tiger genes, he himself had little regard for such criticism, believing that it would have enhanced the local gene pool.
Controversy: allowing re-introduction of hybrid tiger
Tara a hand reared supposedly Bengal tigress acquired from Twycross ZooTwycross Zoo
Twycross Zoo is an zoo near the village of Twycross in Leicestershire, close to the border of Warwickshire . The zoo claims the largest collections of monkeys and apes in the World, and in 2006 re-launched itself as "Twycross Zoo – The World Primate Centre."The zoo attracts around 500,000 visitors...
in England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
in July 1976 was trained by Billy Arjan Singh and reintroduced
Reintroduction
Reintroduction is the deliberate release of a species into the wild in zones formerly inhabited by said species but where it has disappeared from for a number of reasons, from captivity or relocated from other areas where the species still survives in...
to the wild in Dudhwa National Park
Dudhwa National Park
Dudhwa National Park is located in the Terai of Uttar Pradesh, India and covers an area of 680 km2 with a buffer area of almost 190 km2. In altitude it ranges from about to . The international border with Nepal forms the northern boundary, and the River Suheli the southern boundary. Its...
, India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
with the permission of India's then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi
Indira Gandhi
Indira Priyadarshini Gandhara was an Indian politician who served as the third Prime Minister of India for three consecutive terms and a fourth term . She was assassinated by Sikh extremists...
in an attempt to prove the experts wrong that zoo bred hand reared Tigers can ever be released in the wild with success. In the 1990s, some tigers from Dhudhwa were observed which had the typical appearance of Siberian tigers: white complexion, pale fur, large head and wide stripes. With recent advances in science it was subsequently found that Siberian Tigers gene
Gene
A gene is a molecular unit of heredity of a living organism. It is a name given to some stretches of DNA and RNA that code for a type of protein or for an RNA chain that has a function in the organism. Living beings depend on genes, as they specify all proteins and functional RNA chains...
s have polluted the otherwise pure Bengal Tiger
Bengal Tiger
The Bengal tiger is a tiger subspecies native to the Indian subcontinent that in 2010 has been classified as endangered by IUCN...
gene pool of Dudhwa National Park. It was proved later that Twycross Zoo had been irresponsible and maintained no breeding records and had given India a hybrid Siberian-Bengal Tigress instead. Dudhwa tigers constitute about 1% of India's total wild population, but the possibility exists of this genetic pollution
Genetic pollution
Genetic pollution is a controversial term for uncontrolled gene flow into wild populations. This gene flow is undesirable according to some environmentalists and conservationists, including groups such as Greenpeace, TRAFFIC, and GeneWatch UK.-Usage:...
spreading to other tiger groups, at its worst, this could jeopardize the Bengal tiger as a distinct subspecies
Subspecies
Subspecies in biological classification, is either a taxonomic rank subordinate to species, ora taxonomic unit in that rank . A subspecies cannot be recognized in isolation: a species will either be recognized as having no subspecies at all or two or more, never just one...
Awards
For his work in conservation, Singh was widely honoured. He received the Padma ShriPadma Shri
Padma Shri is the fourth highest civilian award in the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna, the Padma Vibhushan and the Padma Bhushan...
in 1975, one of India's highest civilian national awards. This award was closely followed by the World Wildlife Gold Medal in 1976, then the Order of the Golden Ark
Order of the Golden Ark
The Most Excellent Order of the Golden Ark was established by Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands in 1971 as an order of merit. Although not awarded by, it is recognized by the government of the Netherlands as a legal order. It is awarded to people for major contributions to nature conservation...
only a year later as well as the Lifetime Award for Tiger Conservation. In 2004, at the age of 86, Billy Arjan Singh received the J. Paul Getty Wildlife Conservation award — a global honour administered by the World Wildlife Fund — in recognition of his outstanding contribution to international conservation. He has been honored subsequently with several more awards, including the Padma Bhushan
Padma Bhushan
The Padma Bhushan is the third highest civilian award in the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna and the Padma Vibhushan, but comes before the Padma Shri. It is awarded by the Government of India.-History:...
in 2006.
Legacy
To ensure that his work in conservation continued, Singh established the Tiger Haven Society in 1992. The Society's aims include preserving Tiger Haven and sponsoring research into wildlife.Books
Singh was a prolific and well read author of the following popular wildlife books:- Tiger Haven Macmillan, London 1973
- Tara, a tigress Quartet Books, London and New York, 1981
- Prince of cats Jonathan Cape, London 1982
- Tiger! Tiger! Jonathan Cape, London 1984
- The legend of the maneater Orient Longman, New Delhi 1993
- Arjan Singh's tiger book (co-author) Lotus Collection, Roli Books, New Delhi 1998
- Eelie and the big cats Oxford University Press, New Delhi and New York 2001
- Watching India's wildlife : the anthology of a lifetime Oxford University Press, New Delhi 2003
His biography Honorary tiger : the life of Billy Arjan Singh was written by Duff Hart-Davis
Duff Hart-Davis
Peter Duff Hart-Davis , generally known as Duff Hart-Davis, is a British biographer, naturalist and journalist, who writes for The Independent newspaper. He is married to Phyllida Barstow and has one son and one daughter, the journalist Alice Hart-Davis...
and published in 2005 by Lotus Collection, Roli Books, New Delhi.