Madhaviah Krishnan - Natural History

Natural History

Krishnan was an ecological patriot in that he opposed the introduction of exotic trees. He was once asked to speak at the Indian Institute of Science at Bangalore and in late February, the Tabebuia trees were ablaze in flowers. Asked about his opinion on the flowers, he declared it as 'Disgraceful' and suggested that ... you should uproot all those foreign trees, and plant some of our own.

Krishnan was responsible for the declaration of Vedanthangal as a bird sanctuary. He was aware that he was different from most conservationists of his time - who were either European or were from the Indian aristocracy of Muslims and Rajputs often former hunters - in being a vegetarian.

It has been noted that in 1972, Krishnan foresaw the possibility that elephants could communicate using sounds that were inaudible to the human ear. This infrasound communication was confirmed by later studies by Katherine Payne.