Jim Corbett

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Jim Corbett, around 1944

Jim Corbett , actually Edward James Corbett (* 25. July 1875 in Nainital , India ; † 19th April 1955 in Nyeri , Kenya ) was a British hunter and conservationist who has thus become famous for his in India man-eating tigers and leopards killed . Corbett was a colonel in the British Indian Army . Nevertheless, he was frequently called upon by the government of the United Provinces (now the Indian states of Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand ) to hunt tigers and leopards that had killed people in the villages of the Garhwal and Kumaon region .

Adolescent years

The Corbett family were of Irish descent and moved to Nainital in 1862. Jim was born in Nainital, the 8th child of Christopher and Mary Jane Corbett, and spent his teenage years there. When he was four years old, his father, who was the head of the local post office, died.

From an early age, Jim was enthusiastic about the nature and wildlife of his Indian homeland and learned early on to identify bird calls and read tracks. Before he turned 18 he had to leave school and found a job with the Bengali and Northwestern Railways , first as a fuel inspector in Manakpur, Punjab , then as a carrier at the Mokameh Ghat transhipment station in Bihar .

On the hunt for "ogres"

Jim Corbett with the killed Rudraprayag leopard , 1925

Between 1907 and 1938, shot 33 Corbett dreaded ogre - 19 tigers and 14 leopards - such as the Champawat Tiger , the Leopard of Rudraprayag , the Tiger of Chowgarh and Panar Leopard , which together had allegedly killed more than 1,200 people.

From hunter to conservationist

In the late 1920s, Corbett bought his first movie camera and began filming Tiger. Even if he knew his way around the jungle well, it was quite exhausting and tedious for him to get good pictures, because the animals were extremely shy.

During these years, Corbett not only studied and pursued wildlife, he increasingly worked to protect India's wildlife and their habitats. Together with Frederick Walter Champion , he was instrumental in founding the first Indian national park in Uttarakhand (1935) in the 1930s , which was renamed Jim Corbett National Park in his honor in 1957 .

He became active as a writer after he retired. In his books Man-Eaters of Kumaon , Jungle Lore and others, he tells of his hunting adventures.

Years in Kenya

After India gained independence in 1947, Corbett and his sister Maggie moved to Nyeri , Kenya . He continued to work as a writer and cared about the protection of wild animals. He was staying at the Treetops tree house hotel when the British Princess Elisabeth was born on the 5th and 6th. Stayed there in February 1952, the time of the death of her father Georg VI. Corbett wrote in the guest book:

"For the first time in the history of the world, a young girl climbed into a tree one day a Princess and after having what she described as her most thrilling experience she climbed down from the tree next day a Queen - God bless her."

"For the first time in world history, a young woman climbed a tree one day as a princess and after, according to her words, had the most exciting experience, the next day she descended as queen - God bless her."

A few days after Corbett finished his last book Tree Tops , he died of a heart attack and was buried in Nyeri.

reception

In 1968 one of the five subspecies of tigers still alive was named after him: Panthera tigris corbetti , Indochinese tiger , also called Corbett's tiger . In 1982 the asteroid (2442) Corbett was named after him.

Books

English editions

  • Man-eaters of Kumaon. Oxford University Press, London / New York 1944
  • The Man-eating Leopard of Rudraprayag. Oxford University Press, New York 1948
  • My India. Oxford University Press, London / New York 1952
  • Jungle Lore . Oxford University Press, New York 1953
  • The Temple Tiger and more man-eaters of Kumaon. Oxford University Press, Bombay 1954
  • Man against man-eaters. Oxford University Press, London 1954
  • Tree tops . Oxford University Press, London / New York 1955

German translations

  • Man eater: Experiences of a tiger hunter . Orell Füssli, Zurich 1952, NA: year, Hamburg 1998, ISBN 3-86132-250-1 .
  • Leopards, the killers in the jungle . Orell Füssli, Zurich 1950
  • My india . Orell Füssli, Zurich 1953
  • Jungle life. Orell Füssli, Zurich 1954
  • The temple tiger and other tales of ogres . Orell Füssli, Zurich 1955

literature

  • Martin Booth: Carpet Sahib: A Life of Jim Corbett. Oxford University Press, New Delhi 1986
  • Prasanta Das: Jim Corbett's 'Green' Imperialism. (PDF) In: Economic and Political Weekly, Vol. 44, No. 15, 11. – 17. April 2009, pp. 20-22
  • DC Kala: Jim Corbett of Kumaon. Ravi Dayal, New Delhi 1999

Web links

Commons : Jim Corbett  - Collection of Images, Videos and Audio Files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ M. Rangarajan: India's Wildlife History: an Introduction. Permanent Black and Ranthambore Foundation, Delhi 2006, ISBN 81-7824-140-4 , p. 70
  2. ^ Thapar, V. (2001) Savings Wild Tigers: the essential writings. Permanent Black, Delhi ( preview of the book )
  3. ↑ Entry in the guest book of the Treetops Hotel
personal data
SURNAME Corbett, Jim
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Corbett, Edward James
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British hunter, conservationist and author
DATE OF BIRTH July 25, 1875
PLACE OF BIRTH Nainital , India
DATE OF DEATH April 19, 1955
Place of death Nyeri , Kenya