Forty Years Among The Wild Animals Of India From Mysore To The Himalayas

This book is a study of the concepts of endangerment and extinction. Examining interlinking discourses of biological and cultural diversity loss in western and central India, it problematizes the long history of human endangerment and extinction discourse.

The authors in ‘Lost Kingdom’ grapple with both the catastrophe of mass animal extinction, in which the panoply of earthly life is in the accelerating process of disappearing, and with the mass death of industrial animal agriculture. Both forms of anthropogenic violence against animals cast the Anthropocene as an era of criminality and loss driven by boundless human exceptionalism, forcing a reckoning with and an urgent reimagining of human-animal relations. Without the sleights of hand that would lump “humanity” into a singular Anthropos of the Anthropocene, the authors recognize the differential nature of human impacts on animal life and the biosphere as a whole, while affirming the complexity of animal worlds and their profound imbrications in human cultures, societies, and industries. Confronting the reality of the Sixth Mass Extinction and mass animal death requires forms of narrativity that draw on traditional genres and disciplines, while signaling a radical break with modern temporalities and norms. Chapters in this volume reflect this challenge, while embodying the interdisciplinary nature of inquiry into non-human animality at the edge of the abyss—historiography, cultural anthropology, post-colonial studies, literary criticism, critical animal studies, ethics, religious studies, Anthropocene studies, and extinction studies entwine to illuminate what is arguably the greatest crisis, for all creatures, in the past 65 million years.

Culled from Raj literature, Sahib's India reveals little-known aspects of their lives and their dealings with their Indian subjects. Drawing from contemporary journals, plays and poems,

At the turn of the 19th century in India, more than a million wild animals were trounced under the barrel of the gun, bringing them almost to the brink of extinction. There began one of the most inspirational stories of the crusade from Karapore village at the Kabini river of Mysore in South India. An innovative style of protecting nature gives immense importance to the preservation of wilderness, changing the lives of the aborigines through an instrument of eco-tourism. The book charts the key moments in the fight to conserve the natural wealth of India, which has been the centre of admiration for maharajas, the cynosure of the eyes of all royal princes, eminent military officials and those who set on foot to India during the medieval period, embarking on a journey of incredible stories of wildlife sports such as hunting and shooting. The chronicle gives a fascinating picture of the success story of eco-tourism in Karnataka. It offers an atmospheric and entertaining account of the lives of Indian princes, early lifestyles of viceroys, kings, czars and sovereign monarchs with joyful hunting expeditions of emperors, maharajas and enjoyable sports of diplomats and bloodhound hunters, the British civil servants. In a most vivid and gripping style, the saga records the life of men who lived in the wilderness amidst tribes and aborigines and made them friends, which spread the message of the benevolence of human relationships, love and a deep affection for nature and natural resources. It is a captivating book packed with splendid quotes, entertaining anecdotes, chronicles of pre-independent, innovative, triumphant trials of Khedda operations in the princely states of Mysore and Hyderabad, absorbing tales of the wildlife of India and her natural splendours across the cultural diversity of various tribes, ethnicities and their virtues, beliefs and ethos.

On every continent and in every nation, animals unrecognized by modern science are reported on a daily basis. People passionately pursue these creatures--the name given to their field of study is cryptozoology. Coined in the 1950s, the term literally means the science of hidden animals. When the International Society of Cryptozoology (ISC) was formed in 1982, the founders declared that the branch of science is also concerned with "the possible existence of known animals in areas where they are not supposed to occur (either now or in the past) as well as the unknown persistence of presumed extinct animals to the present time or to the recent past...what makes an animal of interest to cryptology is that it is unexpected." This reference work presents a "flesh and blood" view of cryptozoology. Here, 2,744 entries are listed, the majority of which each describe one specific creature or type of creature. Other entries cover 742 places where unnamed cryptids are said to appear; profiles of 77 groups and 112 individuals who have contributed to the field; descriptions of objects and events important to the subject; and essays on cryptotourism and hoaxes, for example. Appendices offer a timeline of zoological discoveries, annotated lists of movies and television series with cryptozoological themes, a list of crypto-fiction titles and a list of Internet websites devoted to cryptozoology.

A comprehensive guide to cryptozoology—the quest to identify animals that have not been officially catalogued by science and to place these unknown animals into their proper zoological categories. In this fascinating two-volume encyclopedia, author George M. Eberhart provides a comprehensive catalog of nearly 1,000 cryptids—unknown animals usually reported through eyewitness accounts and not yet described by science. Cryptids are the stuff of folklore, hoaxes, and genuine scientific breakthroughs. There are 400 now-classified cryptids once considered either extinct or pure fantasy. The cryptozoologist's job is to strip away the myth, misidentification, and mystery—and separate fact from fiction. Mysterious Creatures covers everything from dinosaurs and the emala-ntouka, an elephant-killing dinosaur-like animal of central Africa, to searches for the Loch Ness monster, Bigfoot, and other cryptozoological hoaxes. Entries about specific animals include the derivation or meaning of each cryptid's name, its scientific name, variant names, a physical description, behavior, description of tracks, habitat, significant sightings, present status, and possible explanations. Illustrations and photographs accompany many entries. The book also includes resources and references for further information.

A passionate first-person narrative by Valmik Thapar, who has spent most of the last thirty years observing tigers in the wild and fighting to ensure their survival, is supplemented by the latest scientific findings and essays by twenty of the world's most renowned experts. This stunning book explores every aspect of one of nature's most majestic animals, making Tiger: The Ultimate Guide as authoritative as it is beautiful. Book jacket.