We deeply mourn the sad demise of eminent banker, passionate conservationist and cherished friend Anshu Jain in London on 12 August 2022. One of the world’s top financial experts who previously served as the Global co-CEO and co-Chairman of Deutsche Bank, Anshu was also a passionate wildlife conservationist. Together with his equally committed wife Geetika, Anshu wanted to make a difference to threatened wildlife species on ground through pragmatic interventions that protected and expanded their habitats. This is what brought us together. The Jains believed, as we do, in conservation models that preserved and created more and more habitats for tigers and other threatened species in their homeland of India, where such protected areas have shrunk to less than 4% of the land. We also realized that this complex task had to be achieved in a wider context of strong aspiration for economic growth, development and prosperity among people who had to live amidst and alongside threatened wildlife.
Krithi and I had several intense and useful discussions with Anshu, on the specifics of how the Centre for Wildlife Studies (CWS) could be involved in such initiatives. In fact, the last exchange I had with Anshu a few weeks ago, when he had called me excitedly from London, after reading the manuscript of Among Tigers, my upcoming book that addresses such issues. The narrative had struck a chord with him, making him promise a blurb endorsing the book, as well as a visit to the forests of the Western Ghats to explore possibilities of collaboration with us. Unfortunately, instead of his arrival, the sad news of his demise arrived.
We convey our heartfelt condolences of the entire CWS conservation team to Geetika and other bereaved family members, as well as to the many friends of Anshu Jain.
– Dr. K. Ullas Karanth and Dr. Krithi K. Karanth
(Feature image courtesy: Economic Times)
