Romulus Whitaker | |
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Born | Romulus Earl Whitaker 23 May 1943 New York City, United States |
Citizenship | Indian |
Education | BSc (wildlife management) |
Alma mater | Pacific Western University |
Occupation(s) | Herpetologist, Conservationist |
Known for | Wildlife film-making, Herpetology, Rolex Award |
Spouse(s) | Zahida "Zai" Whitaker née Futehally (m. 1974; divorced) Janaki Lenin |
Relatives | Zafar Futehally (father-in-law) |
Family | Tyabji family (through Zai) |
Romulus Earl Whitaker (born 23 May 1943) is an American-born Indian herpetologist, wildlife conservationist, and founder of the Madras Snake Park, the Andaman and Nicobar Environment Trust (ANET), and the Madras Crocodile Bank Trust. In 2008, Whitaker was selected as an associate laureate in the 2008 Rolex Awards for Enterprise for his efforts to create a network of rainforest research stations throughout India. [1] In 2005, he was a winner of a Whitley Award for outstanding leadership in nature conservation. He used this award to found the Agumbe Rainforest Research Station in Karnataka, for the study of king cobras and their habitat.
For his work in wildlife conservation, he received the Padma Shri award in 2018 by the Government of India. [2]
Whitaker (known as "Rom") was born in New York City, United States, to an American couple. His mother, Doris Norden, was an artist, and his father served in the United States Army. He has one older sister, Gail (b. 1939). After his parents divorced, his mother (who had custody of her children) married Rama Chattopadhyay, son of Harindranath and Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay. [3] The family, including Rom and Gail, initially settled in New York City. In 1951, after the birth of Rom's half-sister Nina, they all moved to Bombay (now Mumbai). Rom's stepfather Rama Chattopadhyay was a pioneer in color film processing; he established India's first colour motion-picture processing lab in Worli, Mumbai. Rom's half-brother Neelkanth was born in Mumbai in 1953.
Rom continued his education (begun in New York) at the Kodaikanal International School (class of 1960). He studied briefly at the University of Wyoming. During the early Vietnam era, as an American citizen of the correct age, he was drafted into the U.S. Army, where he trained and served as a medic on a military base hospital in Japan.[ citation needed ] After his Army tour of duty, he apprenticed from 1963 to 1965 at the Miami Serpentarium with Bill Haast, whom he affectionately calls "guru". A short career in the Merchant Navy brought him back to India, and he has lived here ever since. He is now a naturalized Indian citizen.
In 1974, Whitaker married Zai Whitaker, and the couple had two sons, Nikhil and Samir. [4] However, the marriage eventually failed, and the couple were divorced. He later married again and his wife, Janaki Lenin, is an Indian. They live on a farm just south of Chennai, on the outskirts of Chengalpattu town in Tamil Nadu. [5] [6]
In 1986, well into his 40s, Whitaker earned a B.Sc. in wildlife management from Pacific Western University. This was merely a by-product of his lifelong passion for wildlife, especially of the reptilian variety. He is also a licensed amateur radio operator, holding an Indian callsign, VU2WIT. [7]
Whitaker was the founding director of the Snake Park in Chennai. The park was conceived to rehabilitate the Irula tribe, who are known for their expertise in catching snakes. The tribals were left jobless after the ban of snake trading. Whitaker helped the Irula tribe to get involved in extracting snake venom used for the production of antivenom drugs. Rom is the founder-director of the Madras Crocodile Bank Trust Centre for Herpetology, actively involved in crocodile breeding and conservation programs. [8]
Whitaker is currently coordinating an effort to save the gharial, a critically endangered species of Crocodilia on the brink of extinction, with less than 250 individuals left in Indian waters. [9]
On 27 December 2010, the Minister for Environment and Forests, Jairam Ramesh, during a visit with Rom at the Madras Crocodile Bank, announced the formation of a National Tri-State Chambal Sanctuary Management and Coordination Committee for gharial conservation on 1,600 square kilometres (620 sq mi) of the National Chambal Sanctuary for gharials along the Chambal River in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Uttar Pradesh. The committee will comprise representatives of the states' water resources ministries, state departments of irrigation and power, Wildlife Institute of India, Madras Crocodile Bank Trust, the Gharial Conservation Alliance, Development Alternatives, Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment, Worldwide Fund for Nature, and the divisional forest officers of the three states. The committee will plan strategies for protection of gharials and their habitat. This will involve further research on the species and its ecology and socioeconomic evaluation of dependent riparian communities. Funding for this new initiative will be mobilized as a subscheme of the Integrated Development of Wildlife Habitats in the amount of Rs.50 to 80 million (US$1 to 1.7 million) each year for five years. This project has long been advocated by Rom Whitaker. [10] [11]
Whitaker is a member of the advisory committee and the editorial board of the Bombay Natural History Society, correspondent of The Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles, USA, advisor of Irula Tribal Women's’ Welfare Society, Afforestation Project, member of the Centre for Science and Education, New Delhi, and of the Centre for Environment Education, Ahmedabad. He co-founded the Tamil Nadu Society for Social Forestry Research and the Palni Hills Conservation Council. He is chief technical advisor of Irula Snake Catchers’ Industrial Cooperative Society and convenor of the Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage, Andaman and Nicobar Islands Chapter. [12] He is honorary consultant of International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources/Species Survival Commission (IUCN/SSC), vice chairman (Western Asia), IUCN/SSC Crocodile Specialist Group, member of IUCN/SSC Reptile and Amphibian Group and of IUCN/SSC Sea Turtle Specialist Group.[ citation needed ]
He was producer of the 1996, 53-minute, Super 16-mm wildlife documentary, The King and I, made for the National Geographic Channel Explorer program. This film on the natural history of the king cobra, the largest venomous snake in the world, received the Emmy Award for Outstanding News and Documentary Program Achievement, 1998. It also received Best Photography Award, Progetto Natura 8th Stambecco d'Oro Nature Film Festival, Turin, 1997; it was nominated for Best Cinematography, Jackson Hole Wildlife Film Festival 1997; Emmy Nomination for Outstanding Individual Achievement in a Craft-Cinematographers and News and Documentary, 1998, and Best Animal Behaviour, Wildscreen Film Festival 1998.
In February 2007, he was the subject of a critically acclaimed documentary produced by Icon Films and WNET (and broadcast as Supersize Crocs on PBS's Nature series) on oversized crocodiles, which was filmed in India, Ethiopia, and Australia.
In January 2009, Whitaker was in another Nature documentary on real-life reptiles, such as Komodo dragons and dracos that inspired tales of dragons.
In February 2011, BBC Natural World followed Whitaker during his ongoing research into the causes and prevention of snake bites in India.
He has authored several scientific articles and popular books on reptiles, especially on snakes, including the comprehensive field guide, titled Snakes of India - The Field Guide in 2004. [13] on the snakes of India. [12] [14]
In 2018, he received the Padma Shri, the fourth-highest civilian awards in India for distinguish services in wildlife conservation. [15]
The Madras Crocodile Bank Trust and Centre for Herpetology (MCBT) is a reptile zoo and herpetology research station, located 40 kilometres (25 mi) south of the city of Chennai, in state of Tamil Nadu, India. The centre is both a registered trust and a recognized zoo under the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972 and comes under the purview of the Central Zoo Authority, Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Government of India. It was established with the aim of saving three Indian endangered species of crocodile—the marsh or mugger crocodile, the saltwater crocodile, and the gharial, which at the time of founding of the trust were all nearing extinction.
The mugger crocodile is a medium-sized broad-snouted crocodile, also known as mugger and marsh crocodile. It is native to freshwater habitats from southern Iran to the Indian subcontinent, where it inhabits marshes, lakes, rivers and artificial ponds. It rarely reaches a body length of 5 m and is a powerful swimmer, but also walks on land in search of suitable waterbodies during the hot season. Both young and adult mugger crocodiles dig burrows to which they retreat when the ambient temperature drops below 5 °C (41 °F) or exceeds 38 °C (100 °F). Females dig holes in the sand as nesting sites and lay up to 46 eggs during the dry season. The sex of hatchlings depends on temperature during incubation. Both parents protect the young for up to one year. They feed on insects, and adults prey on fish, reptiles, birds and mammals.
The gharial, also known as gavial or fish-eating crocodile, is a crocodilian in the family Gavialidae and among the longest of all living crocodilians. Mature females are 2.6 to 4.5 m long, and males 3 to 6 m. Adult males have a distinct boss at the end of the snout, which resembles an earthenware pot known as a ghara, hence the name "gharial". The gharial is well adapted to catching fish because of its long, narrow snout and 110 sharp, interlocking teeth.
The flora and fauna of Chennai are the plants and animals in Chennai, India.
Guindy National Park is a 2.70 km2 (1.04 sq mi) protected area of Tamil Nadu, located in Chennai, India, is the 8th-smallest National Park of India and one of the very few national parks situated inside a city. The park is an extension of the grounds surrounding Raj Bhavan, formerly known as the 'Guindy Lodge', the official residence of the governor of Tamil Nadu, India. It extends deep inside the governor's estate, enclosing beautiful forests, scrub lands, lakes and streams.
National Chambal Sanctuary, also called the National Chambal Gharial Wildlife Sanctuary, is a 5,400 km2 (2,100 sq mi) tri-state protected area in northern India for the protection of the Critically Endangered gharial, the red-crowned roof turtle and the Endangered Ganges river dolphin. Located on the Chambal River near the tripoint of Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh, it was first declared in Madhya Pradesh in 1978, and now constitutes a long narrow eco-reserve co-administered by the three states. Within the sanctuary, the pristine Chambal River cuts through mazes of ravines and hills with many sandy beaches.
Mukundara Hills National Park is a national park in Rajasthan, India with an area of 759.99 km2 (293.43 sq mi). It was established in 2004 and consists of three wildlife sanctuaries: Darrah Wildlife Sanctuary, National Chambal Sanctuary, and Jawahar Sagar Wildlife Sanctuary. It is located in the Khathiar-Gir dry deciduous forests.
The Amaravathi Dam is a dam constructed across the Amaravathi River. It is located at Amaravathinagar, 25 kilometres (16 mi) south of Udumalpet on SH 17 in the Indira Gandhi Wildlife Sanctuary, Tirupur district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. The associated Amaravathi Reservoir is 9.31 square kilometres (3.59 sq mi) in area and 33.53 metres (110.0 ft) deep. The dam was built primarily for irrigation and flood control and now also has four megawatts of electrical generating capacity installed. It is notable for the significant population of mugger crocodiles living in its reservoir and catchment basin.
Kukrail Reserve Forest, an urban forest created in 1950s as a plantation forest, is located about 9 km northwest from Lucknow city centre in the Uttar Pradesh state of India. It has a captive breeding and conservation center for the freshwater gharials, one of the 3 native species of crocodiles in India.
The Agumbe Rainforest Research Station (ARRS) is a field based conservation and research organisation situated inside the Agumbe Reserved Forest at Agumbe in the central Western Ghats of southern India. The Agumbe Reserved Forests receives an annual rainfall in excess of 7,000 mm (280 in) and is at an elevation of about 823 m (2,700 ft) above sea level. It forms a part of the Malnad-Kodagu corridor, which also includes the Someshwara, Mookambika, Bhadra, and Sharavati Wildlife Sanctuaries, Kudremukh National Park, and various other forest tracts and reserve forests around Kundapur, Shankaranarayana, Hosanagara, Sringeri, and Thirthahalli.
Arignar Anna Zoological Park, also known as the Vandalur Zoo, is a zoological garden located in Vandalur, to southwest of Chennai, Tamil Nadu, about 31 kilometres (19 mi) from the Chennai Central and 15 kilometres (9.3 mi) from Chennai Airport. Established in 1855, it is the second public zoo in India. It is affiliated with the Central Zoo Authority of India. Spread over an area of 602 hectares, including a 92.45-hectare (228.4-acre) rescue and rehabilitation centre. The zoo houses 2,553 species of flora and fauna across 1,265 acres (512 ha). As of 2012 the park houses around 1,500 wild species, including 46 endangered species, in its 160 enclosures. As of 2010, there were about 47 species of mammals, 63 species of birds, 31 species of reptiles, 5 species of amphibians, 28 species of fishes, and 10 species of insects in the park. The park, with an objective to be a repository of the state's fauna, is credited with being the second wildlife sanctuary in Tamil Nadu after Mudumalai National Park.
The Chennai Snake Park, officially the Chennai Snake Park Trust, is a not-for-profit NGO constituted in 1972 by herpetologist Romulus Whitaker and is India's first reptile park. Also known as the Guindy Snake Park, it is located next to the Children's Park in the Guindy National Park campus. Located on the former home of the Madras Crocodile Bank Trust, the park is home to a wide range of snakes such as adders, pythons, vipers, cobras and other reptiles. The park gained statutory recognition as a medium zoo from the Central Zoo Authority in 1995.
Vijay Bedi is the third generation of wildlife film maker and photographer in a family that has a long history of expertise in this highly specialized field.
Nirmal Ulhas Kulkarni is a herpetologist, field ecologist, conservationist, and wildlife photographer. Director (Ecology) of Wildernest Nature Resort, an eco-tel in the Chorla Ghats (Goa), Chairman of the Mhadei Research Centre, Team Lead of Hypnale Research Station and promoter of HERPACTIVE, a study initiative on Herpetofauna. As of December 2012, he lives in Goa.
Three species of crocodilian are present in India. The mugger crocodile is found in lakes and rivers throughout the country. The saltwater crocodile is found along the eastern coast of the country and the Nicobar and Andaman Islands. The gharial is found in river areas, though is greatly reduced from its previous range. In the pre-historic period, seven species resided in India.
Bhor Saidan Crocodile Breeding Centre, managed by the Haryana Forests Department to captive breed and conserve the freshwater mugger crocodile native to India, is located at Bhor Saidan village on Kurukshetra-Pehowa Road in Kurukshetra district of Haryana in India. It is 13 km from the old Kurukshetra Bus Stand and 22 km from the new Kurukshetra Bus Stand in sector 10.
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Shekar Dattatri is an Indian herpetologist and wildlife filmmaker from Chennai, Tamil Nadu.
Jagannathan Vijaya (1959–1987) was India's first woman herpetologist. She documented the movement of turtles all over the country and worked as an assistant to Edward Moll, the chairman of the World Conservation Union's Freshwater Chelonian Specialist Group.