Popularly known as India?s latter-day Jim Corbett and ?tiger man?, Billy Arjan Singh was an extraordinary man. At Tiger Haven, his home in a magical spot on the edge of the jungle in UP, Billy?s experiments with bringing up three orphaned leopards, and also Tara, a tiger cub which he imported from a zoo in England ? shot him into both fame and cont...roversy. His aim was to see if Tara?s instincts would make her revert to the wild when she became mature. They did ? and over the years she produced four litters of cubs, thus proving his contention that it is possible to supplement dwindling wild stocks with zoo-born animals. But when it was discovered that the tigress had Siberian genes in her ancestry, he was accused of having introduced a ?genetic cocktail? into the jungle.
Undeterred, Billy remained a champion of the forest and its denizens. It was almost entirely due to his advocacy that in 1973 the then Prime Minister, Indira Gandhi, authorized the creation of the Dudhwa National Park. In March 2005 he received the J. Paul Getty Wildlife Conservation award ? a global honour administered by the World Wildlife Fund, that serves to recognize outstanding contributions in international conservation.
In this affectionate biography, the British author Duff Hart-Davis tells the story of a man absolutely dedicated to the cause of animals and their conservation.
Duff Hart-Davis has written or edited more than thirty books, specializing in biography and natural history. From 1986 to 2001 he contributed a weekly column on country matters to the London Independent. His illustrated encyclopaedia Fauna Britannica, was described by the London Sunday Telegraph as ‘Highly readable, skilfully researched... myriad fascinating details.’ His books include eight adventure novels, and Audubon’s Elephant, published in 2003.
Duff Hart-Davis has written or edited more than thirty books, specializing in biography and natural history. From 1986 to 2001 he contributed a weekly column on country matters to the London Independent. His illustrated encyclopaedia Fauna Britannica, was described by the London Sunday Telegraph as ‘Highly readable, skilfully researched... myriad fascinating details.’ His books include eight adventure novels, and Audubon’s Elephant, published in 2003.
Duff Hart-Davis has written or edited more than thirty books, specializing in biography and natural history. From 1986 to 2001 he contributed a weekly column on country matters to the London Independent. His illustrated encyclopaedia Fauna Britannica, was described by the London Sunday Telegraph as ‘Highly readable, skilfully researched... myriad fascinating details.’ His books include eight adventure novels, and Audubon’s Elephant, published in 2003.
Duff Hart-Davis has written or edited more than thirty books, specializing in biography and natural history. From 1986 to 2001 he contributed a weekly column on country matters to the London Independent. His illustrated encyclopaedia Fauna Britannica, was described by the London Sunday Telegraph as ‘Highly readable, skilfully researched... myriad fascinating details.’ His books include eight adventure novels, and Audubon’s Elephant, published in 2003.
ISBN
9788195124831
Binding
Paperback
Page Extent
267
Weight (kg)
0.4
Height (in)
10
Width (in)
7.99
Subject
Biography
Published Date
30/01/22
Publisher
Roli Books
Reviews
India Today
Published Date:- June 27, 2005
"The first, Honorary Tiger, takes a fascinating look at the life of Billy Arjan Singh, who is now 88 years old and still fighting for the rights of the tigers of Dudhwa.
Written by Duff Hart-Davis, it takes you through Billy's early life-his first tiger shot at the age of 14, his amazing interactions with Jim Corbett and, of course, his experiences of World War II. The book then opens into a story of post-independence India and how, over the past 50 years, one man has fought to protect a piece of tiger turf along the border of India and Nepal."
Billy’ Arjan Singh, champion of India’s tigers, has often been compared to a big male tiger: feared by some, admired by many, forever unique. Duff Hart-Davis, the author of Honorary Tiger: The Life of Billy Arjan Singh (Roli; Rs 350) is a well-regarded English journalist and natural-historian, with many books and the encyclopaedia Fauna Britannica to his name. Billy was born into the princely Kapurthala clan in 1917. His story is peppered with the many anecdotes of a difficult but privileged life.