A blogpost on Dr. George Schaller by Dr. K. Ullas Karanth.
‘George Schaller’ is a name, which has literally launched thousands of wildlife researchers and conservationists across the world. To me personally, George has been an idol- a role model impossible to emulate- since 1965. He has also been a mentor and colleague for decades.
It was a wonderful experience for team CWS to host George and his biographer Miriam Horn early in the new year. A lot was packed into those six days in January. CWS hosted a warm reception for George at Bowring Institute on 11th where he met his old friends in the CWS ambit. Next day, George gave several media interviews, which were filmed by our friends at Conservation India portal. The day culminated in a public event at Bangalore International Centre (BIC) titled, George Schaller Out Front! This event was a massive success, with the auditorium packed and ran 30 minutes over time because of the spell George cast on the eager audience.
We took off to Nagarahole for the next 3 days, to do what George really likes: watch animals in the wild. The visit was greatly facilitated by senior foresters Sanjai Mohan and Vijay Sharma. Besides ‘bagging’ three leopards in as many days, we also saw dholes, elephants, gaur and other wildlife. It was great fun for George to connect again with trench warriors who have protected Nagarahole for years – his old friend K. M. Chinnappa and the park deputy director A. T. Poovaiah.
Alas, we had no tiger sightings in Nagarahole. Luckily this lacuna was soon remedied by our friends Poonam and Harsh Dhanwatey of TRACT in Tadoba who hosted George next.
