Ian John Strange
MBE (20 July 1934 – 30 September 2018),
"Ian Strange, naturalist, author, artist and photographer who championed wildlife in the Falklands – obituary"
''The Daily Telegraph
''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a British daily broadsheet conservative newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed in the United Kingdom and internationally. It was found ...
'', 16 December 2018. Retrieved 17 December 2018. also known as the Bird Man, was a British artist, writer, 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 ...
and conservationist who was associated with the Falkland Islands
The Falkland Islands (; ), commonly referred to as The Falklands, is an archipelago in the South Atlantic Ocean on the Patagonian Shelf. The principal islands are about east of South America's southern Patagonian coast and from Cape Dub ...
.
Early years
Strange was born at Market Deeping
Market Deeping is a market town and civil parish in the South Kesteven district of Lincolnshire, England, on the north bank of the River Welland and the A15 road. The population of the town at the 2011 census was 6,008.
History
The town's ma ...
in Lincolnshire
Lincolnshire (), abbreviated ''Lincs'', is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East Midlands and Yorkshire and the Humber regions of England. It is bordered by the East Riding of Yorkshire across the Humber estuary to th ...
. He attended school at Wolverhampton
Wolverhampton ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands of England. Located around 12 miles (20 km) north of Birmingham, it forms the northwestern part of the West Midlands conurbation, with the towns of ...
, subsequently studying at Wolverhampton College of Art, the Birmingham Botanical Gardens (United Kingdom)
The Birmingham Botanical Gardens are a botanical garden situated in Edgbaston, Birmingham, England. The gardens are located south-west of Birmingham city centre at . Designed in 1829, the gardens are Grade II* listed in Historic Englands's ...
and the University of Birmingham
The University of Birmingham (informally Birmingham University) is a Public university, public research university in Birmingham, England. It received its royal charter in 1900 as a successor to Queen's College, Birmingham (founded in 1825 as ...
. He then served with the Independent Parachute Brigade, following which he studied at the Essex College of Agriculture, also working on farms in the Essex fenlands
The Fens or Fenlands in eastern England are a naturally marshy region supporting a rich ecology and numerous species. Most of the fens were drained centuries ago, resulting in a flat, dry, low-lying agricultural region supported by a system o ...
. It was during this period that he met and married his first wife, Irene Hutley.
Falkland Islands
In 1959 Strange accepted a position establishing and managing an experimental mink
Mink are dark-colored, semiaquatic, carnivorous mammals of the genera ''Neogale'' and '' Mustela'' and part of the family Mustelidae, which also includes weasels, otters, and ferrets. There are two extant species referred to as "mink": the A ...
fur farm
Fur farming is the practice of breeding or raising certain types of animals for their fur.
Most of the world's farmed fur was produced by European farmers. In 2018, there were 5,000 fur farms in the EU, located across 22 countries; these area ...
in the Falkland Islands for the Hudson's Bay Company
The Hudson's Bay Company (HBC), originally the Governor and Company of Adventurers of England Trading Into Hudson’s Bay, is a Canadian holding company of department stores, and the oldest corporation in North America. It was the owner of the ...
. During the 1960s he became involved in conservation activities – promoting the establishment of wildlife reserves on several of the islands and surveying seal
Seal may refer to any of the following:
Common uses
* Pinniped, a diverse group of semi-aquatic marine mammals, many of which are commonly called seals, particularly:
** Earless seal, also called "true seal"
** Fur seal
** Eared seal
* Seal ( ...
populations there. The unviability of fur farming led to Strange's return to the UK in 1967, but he returned to the Falklands in 1968 as a tour organiser with Lindblad Travel. In 1969 he married Ann Gisby and settled permanently in the Falklands, pursuing his attempts to obtain greater protection for the wildlife while making a living from writing articles and selling paintings. In 1971 he became an honorary advisor to the Falklands Government on wildlife and conservation. His first book, ''The Falkland Islands'', was published in 1972. In the same year Strange was able, with additional sponsorship, to purchase New Island
New Island () is one of the Falkland Islands, lying north of Beaver Island (Falkland Islands), Beaver Island. It is from Stanley, Falkland Islands, Stanley and is long with an average width of . The highest point is . The northern and eastern ...
as a reserve and wildlife research centre.[
]
Publications
* 1972 –
The Falkland Islands
'. David & Charles. (second edition 1981, third edition 1983)
* 1976 – ''The Bird Man: An Autobiography''. Gordon & Cremonesi: London.
* 1981 – ''Penguin World''. Putnam.
* 1985 – ''The Falklands: South Atlantic Islands''. Dodd Mead.
* 1987 – ''The Falkland Islands and their Natural History''. David & Charles: Newton Abbot, Devon, UK.
* 1990 – ''Collins Field Guide to the Wildlife of the Falkland Islands and South Georgia''. HarperCollins.
* 1995 – ''The Striated Caracara ''Phalcoboenus australis'' in the Falkland Islands''. Author.
* 2005 – ''Atmosphere – Landscapes of the Falkland Islands''. (With Georgina Strange). Design in Nature.
References
British ornithologists
British bird artists
English animal artists
English emigrants to the Falkland Islands
1934 births
Members of the Order of the British Empire
2018 deaths
{{UK-ornithologist-stub