Hommage to a wonderful & courageous man!
Courtesy: TOI (03/01/10)
http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Default/Scripting/ArticleWin.asp?From=Archive&Source=Page&Skin=TOINEW&BaseHref=TOIM/2010/01/03&PageLabel=13&EntityId=Ar01301&ViewMode=HTML&GZ=T
Manjari Mishra | TNN
Lucknow: His last wish could be the best introduction to wildlifeenthusiast and Padma Vibhushan Billy Arjan Singh, who passed away on
Friday night. The 92-yearold wanted that his ashes must be buried in
'Tiger Haven', his sprawling 50-acre farm on the outskirts of the Dudhwa
national park, alongside the graves of his "most treasured friends"-two
leopards Juliet and Harriet Eli, a mongrel bitch and two female
elephants. For the past 60 years, Billy-closely related to the
Kapurthala family-doggedly shunned human company, naturally there was no
reason for him to change his mind at the fag end of the journey.
While women obviously ranked much below in the list of favourites,
his first love undoubtedly was Tara, the tigress he brought home from
Twycross Zoo, London, in 1076 as a cub. Reared by him, she was released
into the wild by Billy when fully grown. There are touching
documentaries to show the man-animal bonds, highlights spanning Tara's
escapades, including his successful experiment with captive breeding.
However, much as the big cat brought her master companionship and
solace, Tara also triggered off a fierce war between Billy and the UP
forest department. Billy's contribution in setting up the Dudhwa
National Park and tiger reserve or Project Tiger would always be
remembered by wildlife lovers.
Billy's fight against hunting put 26 professional shikar companies
out of job. Despite failing health, he had filed a writ in the Allahabad
high court against poaching in Dudhwa. This is apart from a relentless
battle he waged to have the offending railway tracks running through
Dudhwa shifted to ensure its inhabitants a peaceful existence. The only
regret he had was "there was so much needed to be done for tigers and so
little time''. The helplessness provoked him to come up with some of the
best one liners like, "If only they could vote, tigers could have a much
better chance to survive.''
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