Saturday, 26 January 2013

Book Excerpts: Jim Corbett on the Tiger


We dwell here on Edward James "Jim" Corbett (1875-1955). A British Indian Army colonel at a time when India was under imperial rule, Corbett's transformation from a game hunter to a wildlife conservationist fits well into the adage - Truth is stranger than fiction.

Corbett's writing endures, engaging as the narration of his adventures is, most of which concern hunting down man-eating leopards and tigers around the villages of  Kumaon and Garhwal. An Oxford hardbound omnibus edition that includes Man-Eaters of Kumaon, peppered as it is with well-placed illustrations comes recommended.

What we feature now is a 1944 quote that was reproduced in a newspaper some ago that tells much of Corbett's foresightedness and his degree of concern in conserving wildlife: 

The tiger is a large-hearted gentleman with boundless courage and when he is exterminated - as exterminated he will be, unless public opinion rallies to his support - India will be poorer by having lost the finest of its fauna. 


(Article by Snehith Kumbla) 

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