Life and Work
His tryst with nature began as a young boy. His childhood memories include jackals howling into the night, to the accompaniment of the haunting calls of Hawk Owls. His mother's empathy towards animals and his father's scholarly pursuits encouraged him to frequent Trivandrum's excellent public library, where books on African wildlife whetted his budding curiosity for the natural world. Influenced early in his life by Dr. Sálim Ali, he has had a long association with the Bombay Natural History Society, where he served as a curator from 1950, and was then its first Director. After retirement in 1991, he was promptly elected an Honorary Member and was also its Honorary Secretary.
His books include The Book of Indian Reptiles (OUP), A Century of Natural History and Conservation in Developing Countries. He has co-authored Indian Wildlife - Insight Guides Lion Section. He revised The Book of Indian Birds by Salim Ali for the 12th edition, brought out on the birth centenary of Salim Ali in 1996.
He was also Executive Editor of the Society's journal and the initiator of the Hornbill magazine, which celebrated its Silver Jubilee in 2001.
He was diagnosed with cancer, and died on 23 August 2011.
Read more about this topic: J. C. Daniel (naturalist)
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