Billy arjan singh biography of mahatma gandhi

“He has often said that jungle animals seem to treat him as a kind of honorary tiger — and that is what, over the years, he has become.”

I spot these words in the foreword of naturalist Duff Hart-Davis’ biography ‘Honorary Tiger’ (2005), which chronicles the life and times of ‘Billy’ Arjan Singh, also known as India’s ‘Tiger Man’.

One anecdote that lives in the popular imagination is of Billy Arjan attempting to convince then prime minister of India, Indira Gandhi, to have the forests of Dudhwa in Uttar Pradesh declared as a tiger reserve under the prestigious ‘Project Tiger’ — a wildlife conservation movement initiated by the Government of India in 1973 to boost the protection of the country’s wild cats.

After great deliberation, the then prime minister conceded.

And in 1987, Dudhwa received status as a tiger reserve. Billy Arjan was thrilled; his life mission felt accomplished.