Salim ali: The birdman of India
Born at Bombay in November 1897 into a business family, Dr Salim Ali developed an early interest in birds. He traveled to Berlin in 1929 to study, and when he returned to India he was appointed editor of the journal of the Bombay Natural History Society, a pioneering environmental institution.
He received many honors, among them the Union Gold Medal from the British Ornithologists Union, the John Philips Memorial Medal from the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources, the International Getty Prize and the Order of the Golden Ark from the Netherlands.
As a young man Salim had to face years of unemployment and hardship. There were hardly any jobs available for ornithologists in India and so in 1919 Salim moved to Burma to look after the family mining and timber business. It was a rewarding experience for the naturalist as there were endless opportunities for exploring the forests of Burma.
After returning to India Salim tried to get a job as an ornithologist with the Zoological Survey of India but was rejected since he did not have an M.Sc or PhD degree.
When Salim Ali heard of an opening as a guide lecturer at the newly opened natural history section of the Prince of Wales Museum in Mumbai he decided to study further in order to qualify for the job. Salim went to Germany, his passion and cause for Nature and Birds found feather touch
However, when he came back to India he found out that there were still hardly any opportunities in his profession. He decided to create an opportunity. He went to the Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS) and offered his free services for conducting regional ornithological surveys.
The Birdman of India, Salim Ali had many adventures, he fought to protect and preserve many of our forests. For instance, he saved the Bharatpur Bird Sanctuary in Rajasthan and the Silent Valley in Kerala, Which people wanted to take over their own use.
Dr Salim Ali passed away on 20th June, 1987 at the age of 91, after a prolonged battle with prostate cancer. But despite all the fame and adulation showered upon him, Dr. Ali remained what he was as a nine year old – an ever curious person with a passion for birds
Service to nature: Collection of some of books by Salim ali
Dr. Ali had authored numerous books, including the Book of Indian Birds, a bible for budding ornithologists, Books on the birds of Kutch, Kerala, Sikkim, the 10-volumed Birds of India and Pakistan (with S. Dillon Ripley, a young Zoologist with U.S. Army in Sri Lanka) and the Indian Hill Birds. Handbook of the Birds of India and Pakistan: Megapodes to Crab Plover, Handbook of the Birds of India and Pakistan, Pictorial Guide to the Birds of the Indian Subcontinent, The Illustrated Lives in the Wilderness: Three Classic Indian Autobiographies
(Salim Ali, Jim Corbett, Verrier Elwin), Lives In The Wilderness: Three Classic Indian Autobiographies (Salim Ali, Jim Corbett, Verrier Elwin with introduction by Ramachandra Guha, Petronia: Fifty Years of Post-Independence Ornithology in India: A Centenary Dedication to Dr. Salim Ali 1896-1996(Salim Ali (Editor), J.C. Daniel (Editor), Gayatri W. Ugra (Editor), The Book of Indian Birds (Salim Ali), Book of Indian Birds (Salim Ali), Handbook of the Birds of India and Pakistan: Together With Those of Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan and Sri Lanka: Larks to the Grey Hypocolius ( Salim Ali, S. Dillon Ripley),Field Guide to the Birds of the Eastern Himalayas( Salim Ali) and the Fall of Sparrow ( Salim Ali)
The Birdman of India, Salim Ali had many adventures, he fought to protect and preserve many of our forests. For instance, he saved the Bharatpur Bird Sanctuary in Rajasthan and the Silent Valley in Kerala, Which people wanted to take over their own use.
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