Brian Douglas Bell (5 March 1930 – 1 October 2016) was a New Zealand environmental consultant and

ornithologist Ornithology, from Ancient Greek ὄρνις (''órnis''), meaning "bird", and -logy from λόγος (''lógos''), meaning "study", is a branch of zoology dedicated to the study of birds. Several aspects of ornithology differ from related discip ...

. Born in 1930, Bell grew up in

Marlborough Marlborough or the Marlborough may refer to: Places Australia * Marlborough, Queensland * Principality of Marlborough, a short-lived micronation in 1993 * Marlborough Highway, Tasmania; Malborough was an historic name for the place at the sou ...

and

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, in the county of Kent, England; it was a county borough until 1974. It lies on the River Stour, Kent, River Stour. The city has a mild oceanic climat ...

. Surrounded by hills, braided riverbeds, islands and rocky coasts, he soon became deeply interested in natural history. He worked for the

New Zealand Wildlife Service The New Zealand Wildlife Service was a division of the Department of Internal Affairs responsible for managing wildlife in New Zealand. It was established in 1945 (as the Wildlife Branch) in order to unify wildlife administration and operations t ...

between 1957 and 1987 on the management and conservation of

threatened species A threatened species is any species (including animals, plants and fungi) which is vulnerable to extinction in the near future. Species that are threatened are sometimes characterised by the population dynamics measure of ''critical depensatio ...

. Bell, along with

Don Merton Donald Vincent Merton (22 February 193910 April 2011) was a New Zealand conservation movement, conservationist best known for saving the black robin from extinction. He also discovered the Lek (mating arena), lek breeding system of the kākāp� ...

, was part of the ultimately unsuccessful attempt in 1964 to save the

South Island snipe The South Island snipe (''Coenocorypha iredalei''), also known as the Stewart Island snipe or tutukiwi in Māori, is an extinct species of bird in the sandpiper family Scolopacidae that was endemic to New Zealand. Taxonomy and etymology Determ ...

, the greater short-tailed bat, and the New Zealand bush wren from extinction after the invasion of

Big South Cape Island Taukihepa / Big South Cape Island is an offshore island of New Zealand to the west of the southern tip of Stewart Island / Rakiura. The island is the largest of the Tītī / Muttonbird Islands, and as such has no permanent inhabitants but is vi ...

by rats. In the 1984 Queen's Birthday Honours, Bell was awarded the Queens Service Medal for public services. He was a member of the

Royal Australasian Ornithologists Union The Royal Australasian Ornithologists Union (RAOU), now part of BirdLife Australia, was Australia's largest non-government, non-profit, bird conservation organisation. It was founded in 1901 to promote the study and conservation of the native b ...

(RAOU), and was elected a Fellow of the RAOU in 1990. He was president of the

Ornithological Society of New Zealand The Ornithological Society of New Zealand (OSNZ), also known as Birds New Zealand, is a non-profit organisation dedicated to the study of birds and their habitats in the New Zealand region. Founded in 1940, it caters to a wide variety of people ...

(OSNZ) from 1972 to 1979, and again from 1989 to 1995. He was awarded the OSNZ Robert Falla Memorial Award in 1987, and elected a Fellow of the Ornithological Society of New Zealand in 1998. Bell died in Marlborough on 1 October 2016.

References

External links

* Brian Bell discussed on RNZ ''Critter of the Week''
14 October 2016
* Biz Bell discusses her father Brian Bell and predator eradication on RNZ National ''Nine to Noon'
21 February 2024

References

External links

See also