A. J. T. Johnsingh
{{Short description|Indian vertebrate ecologist (1945–2024)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2018}}
{{Use Indian English|date=June 2024}}
{{Infobox person
| name = A.J.T. Johnsingh
| image = AJTJ photo.jpg
| caption = Johnsingh in 2010
| native_name = ஏ. ஜெ. டி. ஜான்சிங்
| native_name_lang = ta
| other_names = AJT
| birth_name = Asir Jawahar Thomas Johnsingh
| birth_date = {{birth date|1945|10|14|df=yes}}
| birth_place = Nanguneri,
Kingdom of Travancore,
British India
(now in Tamil Nadu, India)
| death_date = {{death date and age|2024|06|07|1945|10|14|df=yes}}
| death_place = Bengaluru, Karnataka, India
| occupation = Scientist
| spouse = {{marriage|Kousalya||2013|end={{abbr|d.|died}}}}
| children = Mike
Mervin
}}
Asir Jawahar Thomas Johnsingh (14 October 1945 – 7 June 2024) was an Indian vertebrate ecologist from Tamil Nadu.{{cite web|url=http://www.sanctuaryasia.com/people/interviews/136-interviews/1591-meet-dr-ajt-johnsingh.html |title="Meet Dr. A.J.T. Johnsingh" |publisher=Sanctuaryasia.com |date= |accessdate=2018-08-16}} Johnsingh's study of the Dhole in Bandipur National Park was the first study of a free-ranging mammal by an Indian scientist.{{cite web|url=http://jlrexplore.com/explore/interviews/dr-ajt-johnsingh-leading-the-way-2#.U494lHDE9sk.facebook|title=Dr. AJT Johnsingh - Leading the Way|publisher=Jungle Lodges & Resorts|date=31 May 2014|accessdate=6 June 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140606020837/http://jlrexplore.com/explore/interviews/dr-ajt-johnsingh-leading-the-way-2#.U494lHDE9sk.facebook|archive-date=6 June 2014|url-status=dead}}
Biography
Johnsingh was born in Nanguneri,{{Cite web |title=India's foremost wildlife biologist and conservation activist, A J T Johnsingh, is no more |url=https://www.downtoearth.org.in/news/wildlife-biodiversity/india-s-foremost-wildlife-biologist-and-conservation-activist-a-j-t-johnsingh-is-no-more-96568 |access-date=2024-06-09 |website=www.downtoearth.org.in |language=en}} in Tirunelveli District of Tamil Nadu in 1945, and spent his early years there. He went on to do his graduate studies in the Madras Christian College, Chennai. He was a pioneering wildlife scientist and the first Indian to carry out field research on large wild mammals, particularly dhole, in Indian forests.{{Cite web |last=PTI |date=8 June 2024 |title=Biologist and conservation activist Johnsingh leaves behind rich conservation legacy |url=https://www.telegraphindia.com/india/biologist-ajt-johnsingh-passes-away/cid/2025516 |access-date=9 June 2024 |website=The Telegraph}} His research during 1976-78 focused on the ecology and prey-predator relationships of dhole, other carnivores and ungulates in Bandipur National Park.{{Cite journal |last=Johnsingh |first=A. J. T. |date=1983 |title=Large mammalian prey - predators in Bandipur |url=https://biostor.org/reference/153122 |journal=Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society |volume=80 |issue=1 |pages=1–57}}
After brief stints as a professor at Ayya Nadar Janaki Ammal College, Sivakasi, and as a postdoctoral fellow at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., he returned to India in 1981 to work with the Bombay Natural History Society. In 1985, he joined the newly-established Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun, where he became the head of the faculty of wildilfe sciences, and retired as the Dean in 2005.
He served as advisor to the Ministry of Environment and Forests. He wrote several books on wildlife conservation.{{cite web|url=https://www.thehindubusinessline.com/todays-paper/tp-others/tp-variety/of-tribals-and-tigers/article2198074.ece |title="Of tribals and tigers..." |publisher=Thehindubusinessline.com |date= 10 December 2005|accessdate=2018-08-16}}{{cite news | url=https://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-kerala/batting-for-the-precious-ghats/article3671832.ece | title=Batting for the precious Ghats | newspaper=The Hindu | date=23 July 2012 | accessdate=30 July 2018 }}
Johnsingh received a Padma Shri award and received various other distinguished awards including the $100,000 ABN AMRO Award.{{cite web|url=https://www.thehindubusinessline.com/todays-paper/tp-economy/abn-amro-salutes-earth-heroes/article2198001.ece |title="ABN Amro salutes 'earth heroes' " |publisher=Thehindubusinessline.com |date= 9 December 2005|accessdate=2018-08-16}}
Johnsingh died on 7 June 2024, at the age of 78.[https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/chennai/eminent-wildlife-biologist-ajt-johnsingh-dies/articleshow/110790352.cms Eminent wildlife biologist AJT Johnsingh dies]
Books
- On Jim Corbett's Trail and Other Tales from Tree-tops, 2004, Permanent Black, {{ISBN|81-7824-081-5}}
- Field Days: A Naturalist's Journey Through South and Southeast Asia, 2005, Universities Press, {{ISBN|978-8173715525}}
- Walking the Western Ghats, 2015, Oxford University Press, {{ISBN|978-0199460823}}
- On Jim Corbett's Trail and Other Tales from the Jungle, 2018, Natraj Publishers, {{ISBN|978-8181582539}}
= Edited volumes =
- Mammals of South Asia, Volume 1, 2012, (Edited by A. J. T. Johnsingh and Nima Manjrekar), Orient BlackSwan, {{ISBN|978-8173715907}}
- Mammals of South Asia, Volume 2, 2015, (Edited by A. J. T. Johnsingh and Nima Manjrekar), Orient BlackSwan, {{ISBN|978-8173715891}}
References
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Category:Scientists from Tamil Nadu