A. J. T. Johnsingh
Indian vertebrate ecologist (1945–2024)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Asir Jawahar Thomas Johnsingh (14 October 1945 – 7 June 2024) was an Indian vertebrate ecologist from Tamil Nadu.[1] Johnsingh's study of the Dhole in Bandipur National Park was the first study of a free-ranging mammal by an Indian scientist.[2]
14 October 1945
A.J.T. Johnsingh | |
|---|---|
ஏ. ஜெ. டி. ஜான்சிங் | |
Johnsingh in 2010 | |
| Born | Asir Jawahar Thomas Johnsingh 14 October 1945 |
| Died | 7 June 2024 (aged 78) |
| Other name | AJT |
| Occupation | Scientist |
| Spouse |
Kousalya (d. 2013) |
| Children | Mike Mervin |
Biography
Johnsingh was born in Nanguneri,[3] 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.[4] His research during 1976-78 focused on the ecology and prey-predator relationships of dhole, other carnivores and ungulates in Bandipur National Park.[5]
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.[3]
He served as advisor to the Ministry of Environment and Forests. He wrote several books on wildlife conservation.[6][7]
Johnsingh received a Padma Shri award and received various other distinguished awards including the $100,000 ABN AMRO Award.[8]
Johnsingh died on 7 June 2024, at the age of 78.[9]
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