Kunwar "Billy" Arjan Singh (15 August 1917 – 1 January 2010) was an Indian hunter turned conservationist and author. He was the first who tried to reintroduce tigers and leopards from captivity into the wild.[1]
Billy Arjan Singh
Billy Arjan Singh died at his original farmhouse Jasbir Nagar on 1 January 2010.[2]
Kunwar "Billy" Arjan Singh was born in Gorakhpur 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 and his uncle was Raja Maharaj Singh. 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.
Hunter turned conservationistedit
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 barasingha 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.[3] He was also largely responsible for persuading the then Prime Minister, Indira Gandhi, to transform Dudhwa into a 200-square-mile (520 km2) national park.
Re-introduction of big catsedit
Singh's conservation efforts for wildlife are best known for his reintroduction of leopards and a tiger into the wild of Dudhwa National Park. He started by bringing up an orphaned male leopard cub named Prince, which he successfully reintroduced to the wild in 1973. To provide Prince with a mate he subsequently raised two orphaned female leopards cubs, Harriet and Juliette.[4] In July 1976, he acquired a hand-reared female tiger cub named Tara from Twycross Zoo in the United Kingdom, and reintroduced her to the wild in the Dudhwa National Park with the permission of India's then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.[5]
In the 1990s, some tigers were observed in the protected area, which had a Siberian tigerphenotype of a large head, pale pelage, white complexion, and wide stripes, and were therefore suspected to be Bengal-Siberian tiger hybrids. Billy Arjan Singh sent hair samples of tigers from the area to the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology in Hyderabad where the samples were analysed using mitochondrial sequence analysis. Results revealed that the tigers in question had a Bengal tiger mitochondrial haplotype indicating that their mother was a Bengal tiger.[6] Skin, hair and blood samples from 71 tigers collected in various Indian zoos, in the National Museum in Kolkata and including the two hair samples from Dudhwa National Park were prepared for microsatellite analysis that revealed that two tigers had alleles in two loci that were contributed by Bengal and Siberian tiger subspecies.[7] However, samples of two hybrid specimens constituted a too small base to conclusively presume that Tara was the source of the Siberian tiger genes.[8]
Awardsedit
For his contributions to conservation, Arjan Singh was widely honoured. In 1996, he was awarded the World Wildlife Gold Medal, and obtained the Order of the Golden Ark in 1997.[9]
In 2004, Arjan Singh received the Getty Award, administered by the World Wildlife Fund, for his innovative contribution to conservation and for creating public awareness. In 2006, he received the Yash Bharati award and the Padma Bhushan two months later.[10]
He also received the Lifetime Award for Tiger Conservation.[citation needed]
Legacyedit
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.
Publicationsedit
Tiger Haven. Macmillan, London 1973; Oxford University Press, Oxford 1999
Tara, a tigress. Quartet Books, London and New York 1981
Prince of cats. Jonathan Cape, London 1982; Oxford University Press, New Delhi 2000
Tiger! Tiger!. Jonathan Cape, London 1984 and 1986
The legend of the maneater. Orient Longman, New Delhi 1993
Arjan Singh's tiger book. (co-author) Lotus Collection, Roli Books, New Delhi 1998
A tiger's story. HarperCollins Publishers India, New Delhi 1999; Tara-India Research Press, New Delhi 2005
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 and 2004
Biographiesedit
Hart-Davies, D. 2005. Honorary tiger : the life of Billy Arjan Singh. Lotus Collection, Roli Books, New Delhi
Shaminder Boparai, and A. Mookerjee (ed.) 2011. Billy Arjan Singh – Tiger of Dudhwa with support from WWF, Tiger Haven Society. HarperCollins, New Delhi
Referencesedit
^Thapar, V. (2010) Obituary: Billy Arjan Singh HT Media Limited, 2 January 2010 online
^"Wildlife enthusiast, author Billy Arjan Singh dies". Hindustan Times. Retrieved 21 June 2021.
^WWF The Duke of Edinburgh Conservation Medal online 25 July 2014 at the Wayback Machine
^Singh, A. (1982). Prince of Cats. London: Jonathan Cape. ISBN0-224-02034-X.
^Singh, A. (1981). Tara, a tigress. London and New York: Quartet Books. ISBN070432282X.
^Shankaranarayanan, P.; Singh, L. (1998). . Current Science. 75 (9): 919–923. Archived from the original on 12 July 2016. Retrieved 18 September 2007.
^Shankaranarayanan, P.; Banerjee, M.; Kacker, R. K.; Aggarwal, R. K. & Singh, L. (1997). (PDF). Electrophoresis. 18 (9): 1693–1700. doi:10.1002/elps.1150180938. PMID 9378147. S2CID 41046139. Archived from the original (PDF) on 23 July 2013.
^Menon, S. (1997). Tainted Royalty 30 June 2008 at the Wayback Machine. India Today.
^Atroley, A. (2006). "Billy Arjan Singh awarded Padma Bhushan". WWF India, 30 March 2006.
External linksedit
Cry Havoc (1980)
Billy Arjan Singh's website. at the Wayback Machine (archived 12 September 2009)
Billy Arjan Singh awarded Padma Bhushan, WWF-India (Worldwide Fund for Nature – India), 30 Mar 2006
Films and books by and about Billy Arjan Singh
February 11, 2024
billy, arjan, singh, kunwar, billy, arjan, singh, august, 1917, january, 2010, indian, hunter, turned, conservationist, author, first, tried, reintroduce, tigers, leopards, from, captivity, into, wild, died, original, farmhouse, jasbir, nagar, january, 2010, c. Kunwar Billy Arjan Singh 15 August 1917 1 January 2010 was an Indian hunter turned conservationist and author He was the first who tried to reintroduce tigers and leopards from captivity into the wild 1 Billy Arjan SinghBilly Arjan Singh died at his original farmhouse Jasbir Nagar on 1 January 2010 2 Contents 1 Early life 2 Hunter turned conservationist 3 Re introduction of big cats 4 Awards 5 Legacy 6 Publications 6 1 Biographies 7 References 8 External linksEarly life editThis section does not cite any sources Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed August 2011 Learn how and when to remove this template message Kunwar Billy Arjan Singh was born in Gorakhpur 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 and his uncle was Raja Maharaj Singh 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 Hunter turned conservationist editSingh 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 barasingha 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 3 He was also largely responsible for persuading the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi to transform Dudhwa into a 200 square mile 520 km2 national park Re introduction of big cats editSingh s conservation efforts for wildlife are best known for his reintroduction of leopards and a tiger into the wild of Dudhwa National Park He started by bringing up an orphaned male leopard cub named Prince which he successfully reintroduced to the wild in 1973 To provide Prince with a mate he subsequently raised two orphaned female leopards cubs Harriet and Juliette 4 In July 1976 he acquired a hand reared female tiger cub named Tara from Twycross Zoo in the United Kingdom and reintroduced her to the wild in the Dudhwa National Park with the permission of India s then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi 5 In the 1990s some tigers were observed in the protected area which had a Siberian tiger phenotype of a large head pale pelage white complexion and wide stripes and were therefore suspected to be Bengal Siberian tiger hybrids Billy Arjan Singh sent hair samples of tigers from the area to the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology in Hyderabad where the samples were analysed using mitochondrial sequence analysis Results revealed that the tigers in question had a Bengal tiger mitochondrial haplotype indicating that their mother was a Bengal tiger 6 Skin hair and blood samples from 71 tigers collected in various Indian zoos in the National Museum in Kolkata and including the two hair samples from Dudhwa National Park were prepared for microsatellite analysis that revealed that two tigers had alleles in two loci that were contributed by Bengal and Siberian tiger subspecies 7 However samples of two hybrid specimens constituted a too small base to conclusively presume that Tara was the source of the Siberian tiger genes 8 Awards editFor his contributions to conservation Arjan Singh was widely honoured In 1996 he was awarded the World Wildlife Gold Medal and obtained the Order of the Golden Ark in 1997 9 In 2004 Arjan Singh received the Getty Award administered by the World Wildlife Fund for his innovative contribution to conservation and for creating public awareness In 2006 he received the Yash Bharati award and the Padma Bhushan two months later 10 He also received the Lifetime Award for Tiger Conservation citation needed Legacy editTo 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 Publications editTiger Haven Macmillan London 1973 Oxford University Press Oxford 1999 Tara a tigress Quartet Books London and New York 1981 Prince of cats Jonathan Cape London 1982 Oxford University Press New Delhi 2000 Tiger Tiger Jonathan Cape London 1984 and 1986 The legend of the maneater Orient Longman New Delhi 1993 Arjan Singh s tiger book co author Lotus Collection Roli Books New Delhi 1998 A tiger s story HarperCollins Publishers India New Delhi 1999 Tara India Research Press New Delhi 2005 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 and 2004Biographies edit Hart Davies D 2005 Honorary tiger the life of Billy Arjan Singh Lotus Collection Roli Books New Delhi Shaminder Boparai and A Mookerjee ed 2011 Billy Arjan Singh Tiger of Dudhwa with support from WWF Tiger Haven Society HarperCollins New DelhiReferences edit Thapar V 2010 Obituary Billy Arjan Singh HT Media Limited 2 January 2010 online Wildlife enthusiast author Billy Arjan Singh dies Hindustan Times Retrieved 21 June 2021 WWF The Duke of Edinburgh Conservation Medal online Archived 25 July 2014 at the Wayback Machine Singh A 1982 Prince of Cats London Jonathan Cape ISBN 0 224 02034 X Singh A 1981 Tara a tigress London and New York Quartet Books ISBN 070432282X Shankaranarayanan P Singh L 1998 Mitochondrial DNA sequence divergence among big cats and their hybrids Current Science 75 9 919 923 Archived from the original on 12 July 2016 Retrieved 18 September 2007 Shankaranarayanan P Banerjee M Kacker R K Aggarwal R K amp Singh L 1997 Genetic variation in Asiatic lions and Indian tigers PDF Electrophoresis 18 9 1693 1700 doi 10 1002 elps 1150180938 PMID 9378147 S2CID 41046139 Archived from the original PDF on 23 July 2013 Menon S 1997 Tainted Royalty Archived 30 June 2008 at the Wayback Machine India Today WWF 2010 Tiger hero Billy Arjan Singh WWF 4 January 2010 Atroley A 2006 Billy Arjan Singh awarded Padma Bhushan WWF India 30 March 2006 External links editTiger Haven Society Cry Havoc 1980 Billy Arjan Singh s website Google Cached at the Wayback Machine archived 12 September 2009 Billy Arjan Singh awarded Padma Bhushan WWF India Worldwide Fund for Nature India 30 Mar 2006 Films and books by and about Billy Arjan Singh Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Billy Arjan Singh amp oldid 1156712771, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
