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]
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]
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]
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]