Kailash Sankhala

{{Infobox person

| name = Kailash Sankhala

| image =

| caption =

| birth_date = {{Birth date|1925|01|30|df=y}}

| birth_place = Jodhpur, Jodhpur State, British India

| death_date = {{Death date and age|1994|08|15|1925|01|30|df=y}}

| known_for = Environmental activism; Role as first Director of Project Tiger

| awards = Padma Shri

}}

File:Indira Gandhi giving Kailash Sankhala the Padma Shri award.png

Kailash Sankhala (30 January 1925 –20 August 1997) was an Indian biologist and conservationist. He was the director of Delhi Zoological Park and chief wildlife warden of Rajasthan.{{cite book|author=Valmik Thapar|title=Saving Wild Tigers 1900–2000|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=E83LhDWxOicC&pg=PA155|date=1 February 2006|publisher=Orient Blackswan|isbn=978-81-7824-150-0|pages=155–}} He is best known for his work in preserving tigers. Sankhala was the first director of Project Tiger, a conservation programme set up in India in 1973.{{cite book|author=Sujit Mukherjee|title=Forster and Further: The Tradition of Anglo-Indian Fiction|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xYi3HztW19YC&pg=PA222|date=1 January 1993|publisher=Orient Blackswan|isbn=978-0-86311-289-8|pages=222–}} He was well known as "The Tiger Man of India". He was awarded the Padma Shri in 1992 and Rajasthan Ratan in 2013.

Wildlife manager

Sankhala started at the Forest Service in 1953.*{{cite book|author=Kailash Sankhala|title=Tiger! The Story of the Indian Tiger|year=1978|publisher=William Collins Sons & Co Ltd|isbn=0-00-216124-9}} From 1953 to 1964, he managed wildlife sanctuaries in Sariska, Bharatpur, Banvihar and Ranthambhor, as well as forests in Rajasthan. In 1965, he was appointed director of the Delhi Zoological Park. In 1973 he was appointed head of Project Tiger, an attempt to save the Indian tiger from extinction.{{cite book|author=Reed Business Information|title=New Scientist|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VWc5oFG4Df0C&pg=PA804|date=28 March 1974|publisher=Reed Business Information|pages=804–|issn=0262-4079}}

Tiger conservation

In 1971, Sankhala conducted a survey of the tiger population in India.{{cite book|author1=Ronald Tilson|author2=Philip J. Nyhus|title=Tigers of the World: The Science, Politics and Conservation of Panthera tigris|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XFIbjBEQolMC&pg=PA5|date=30 November 2009|publisher=Academic Press|isbn=978-0-08-094751-8|pages=5–}} His research later lead him to become the first director of Project Tiger in 1973.{{cite web|url=http://www.kidsfortigers.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=96:kailash-sankhala&catid=29:tiger-heroes&Itemid=92|title=Kailash Sankhala|author=Administrator|work=kidsfortigers.org|access-date=24 September 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303212555/http://www.kidsfortigers.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=96:kailash-sankhala&catid=29:tiger-heroes&Itemid=92|archive-date=3 March 2016|url-status=dead}} Sankhala created the Tiger Trust in 1989.{{cite web|url=http://www.tigertrustindia.org/|title=Tiger trust}} Sankhala's son, Pradeep Sankhala, took over the charge of the Tiger Trust after his father's death. Upon his death in 2003, his son Amit Sankhala stepped in.

Personal life

Kailash Sankhala was born in Jodhpur, Rajasthan on 30 January 1925. Sankhala died on 15 August 1994 in Jaipur. He had a son ..Sankhala's son, Pradeep Sankhala, took over the charge of the Tiger Trust after his father's death. Upon his death in 2003, his son Amit Sankhala stepped in.

Awards and honours

The Ministry of Environment and Forests established the Kailash Sankhala Fellowship award for conservation efforts in his honour.{{cite web|url=http://envfor.nic.in/content/shri-kailash-sankhla-national-wildlife-fellowship-award|title=Shri Kailash Sankhla National Wildlife Fellowship Award – Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change Government of India|work=envfor.nic.in|access-date=24 September 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170909164213/http://www.envfor.nic.in/content/shri-kailash-sankhla-national-wildlife-fellowship-award|archive-date=9 September 2017|url-status=dead}}

Bibliography

{{cite book|author=Kailash Sankhala|title=Wild Beauty: A Study of Indian Wildlife|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_oBuQgAACAAJ|year=1973|publisher=National Book Trust, India; [sole distributors: Thomson Press (India)}}
{{cite book|author=Kailash Sankhala|title=Tigre|year=1974|publisher=World Wildlife Fund|isbn=3859880101}}
{{cite book|author=Kailash Sankhala|title=Tigerland|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=79sLuwAACAAJ|year=1975|publisher=Bobbs-Merrill|isbn=978-0-672-52037-2}}
{{cite book|author=Kailash Sankhala|title=Tiger! The Story of the Indian Tiger|year=1978|publisher=William Collins Sons & Co Ltd|isbn=0-00-216124-9}}
{{cite book|author=Kailash Sankhala|title=Gardens of God: The Waterbird Sanctuary at Bharatpur|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=E4E_AAAAYAAJ|year=1990|publisher=Vikas Publishing House|isbn=9780706930412 }}
{{cite book|author=Kailash Sankhala|title=Return of the Tiger|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AevAGAAACAAJ|year=1993|publisher=Lustre Press}}
{{cite book|author1=Kailash Sankhala|author2=Swaraj Chauhan|title=The Story of Indian Tiger|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Cq43AAAACAAJ|year=1997|publisher=Grange Books|isbn=978-1-85627-888-1}}{{cite web|url=http://www.indiawilds.com/diary/tiger-the-story-of-the-indian-tiger/|title=Tiger! The Story of the Indian Tiger|work=Diary – Tales from Wild India – Conservation Magazine}}