Asir Jawahar Thomas Johnsingh (14 October 1945 – 7 June 2024) was an Indian

vertebrate Vertebrates () are animals with a vertebral column (backbone or spine), and a cranium, or skull. The vertebral column surrounds and protects the spinal cord, while the cranium protects the brain. The vertebrates make up the subphylum Vertebra ...

ecologist Ecology () is the natural science of the relationships among living organisms and their environment. Ecology considers organisms at the individual, population, community, ecosystem, and biosphere levels. Ecology overlaps with the closely re ...

from

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is the southernmost States and union territories of India, state of India. The List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of Indi ...

. Johnsingh's study of the

Dhole The dhole ( ; ''Cuon alpinus'') is a canid native to South, East and Southeast Asia. It is anatomically distinguished from members of the genus ''Canis'' in several aspects: its skull is convex rather than concave in profile, it lacks a third ...

Bandipur National Park Bandipur National Park is a national park covering in Chamarajnagar district in the Indian state of Karnataka. It was established as a tiger reserve under Project Tiger in 1973. It is part of the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve since 1986. Histor ...

was the first study of a free-ranging mammal by an Indian scientist.

Biography

Johnsingh was born in Nanguneri, in

Tirunelveli Tirunelveli (), also known as Nellai and historically (during British rule) as Tinnevelly, is a major city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is the administrative headquarters of the Tirunelveli District. It is the fourth-largest munici ...

District of

in 1945, and spent his early years there. He went on to do his graduate studies in the

Madras Christian College Madras Christian College (MCC) is a liberal arts and sciences college in Chennai, India. Founded in 1837, MCC is one of Asia's oldest extant colleges. The college is affiliated to the University of Madras but functions as an autonomous institut ...

Chennai Chennai, also known as Madras (List of renamed places in India#Tamil Nadu, its official name until 1996), is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Tamil Nadu by population, largest city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost states and ...

. He was a pioneering wildlife scientist and the first Indian to carry out field research on large wild mammals, particularly

dhole The dhole ( ; ''Cuon alpinus'') is a canid native to South, East and Southeast Asia. It is anatomically distinguished from members of the genus ''Canis'' in several aspects: its skull is convex rather than concave in profile, it lacks a third ...

, in Indian forests. His research during 1976-78 focused on the ecology and prey-predator relationships of dhole, other carnivores and ungulates in

. After brief stints as a professor at Ayya Nadar Janaki Ammal College,

Sivakasi Sivakasi is a city in Virudhunagar District in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. The city is known for firecrackers and match factories that produce 70% of the country's output. The printing industries in Sivakasi produce 30% of the total diaries ...

, and as a postdoctoral fellow at the

Smithsonian Institution The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums, Education center, education and Research institute, research centers, created by the Federal government of the United States, U.S. government "for the increase a ...

in Washington, D.C., he returned to India in 1981 to work with the

Bombay Natural History Society The Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS), founded on 15 September 1883, is one of the largest non-governmental organisations in India engaged in conservation and biodiversity research. It supports many research efforts through grants and publ ...

. In 1985, he joined the newly-established

Wildlife Institute of India The Wildlife Institute of India (WII) is an autonomous natural resource service institution established in 1982 under the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Ministry of Environment Forest and Climate change, Government of Indi ...

Dehradun Dehradun (), also known as Dehra Doon, is the winter capital and the List of cities in Uttarakhand by population, most populous city of the Indian state of Uttarakhand. It is the administrative headquarters of the eponymous Dehradun district, d ...

, where he became the head of the faculty of wildilfe sciences, and retired as the Dean in 2005. He served as advisor to the Ministry of Environment and Forests. He wrote several

books A book is a structured presentation of recorded information, primarily verbal and graphical, through a medium. Originally physical, electronic books and audiobooks are now existent. Physical books are objects that contain printed material, mo ...

on wildlife conservation. Johnsingh received a

Padma Shri The Padma Shri (IAST: ''padma śrī'', lit. 'Lotus Honour'), also spelled Padma Shree, is the fourth-highest Indian honours system, civilian award of the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna, the Padma Vibhushan and the Padma Bhushan. In ...

award and received various other distinguished awards including the $100,000 ABN AMRO Award. Johnsingh died on 7 June 2024, at the age of 78.Eminent wildlife biologist AJT Johnsingh dies
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Books

* ''On Jim Corbett's Trail and Other Tales from Tree-tops'', 2004, Permanent Black, * ''Field Days: A Naturalist's Journey Through South and Southeast Asia'', 2005, Universities Press, * ''Walking the Western Ghats'', 2015,

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the publishing house of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world. Its first book was printed in Oxford in 1478, with the Press officially granted the legal right to print books ...

, * ''On Jim Corbett's Trail and Other Tales from the Jungle'', 2018, Natraj Publishers,

Edited volumes

* ''Mammals of South Asia, Volume 1'', 2012, (Edited by A. J. T. Johnsingh and Nima Manjrekar),

Orient BlackSwan Orient Blackswan Pvt. Ltd., formerly Orient Longman India, commonly referred to as Orient Longman, is an Indian publishing house headquartered in Hyderabad, Telangana. The company publishes academic, professional and general works as well as s ...

, * ''Mammals of South Asia, Volume 2'', 2015, (Edited by A. J. T. Johnsingh and Nima Manjrekar),

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Johnsingh, A. J. T. 1945 births 2024 deaths Indian ecologists Scientists from Tamil Nadu 20th-century Indian biologists People from Nagercoil