Rennie Montague Bere

Rennie Montague Bere (born November 28, 1907 in Bere Regis , Dorset , † March 23, 1991 in Plymouth ) was a British mountaineer , naturalist and conservationist.

Life

Bere was the son of a pastor. After graduating from Marlborough College , he enrolled at Selwyn College in Cambridge in 1926 . In 1930 he went to Uganda on behalf of the British Colonial Service and worked first as District Commissioner and later as Provincial Commissioner for the northern province. During his thirty-year stay in Uganda, Bere made outstanding contributions as a mountaineer and in the field of mountain exploration, especially in the Ruwenzori Mountains . Bere explored several island mountains , the Imatong Mountains on the Sudanese border and the Virunga volcanoes . In 1955 he became director and chief gamekeeper of the Uganda National Parks. In 1960 he moved to West Cottage near Bude Haven in Cornwall with his wife Anne Maree, whom he married in Uganda in 1936 .

Bere published a few dozen books, including The Way to the Mountains of the Moon (1966), Antelopes (1970), The Nature Of Cornwall (1982), and the autobiography A Cuckoo's Parting Cry: a personal account of life and work in Uganda between 1930 and 1960 (1990).

Honors and memberships

In 1928, Bere became a member of the Alpine Club . In 1957 he became Companion of the Order of St. Michael and St. George .

Works (selection)

• The Wild Mammals of Uganda and Neighboring Regions of East Africa , 1961
• The Way to the Mountains of the Moon , 1966
• Wild Animals in an African National Park , 1966
• The African Elephant , 1966 (German: The World of Animals: The African Elephant , translation by Odo Walther, 1976)
• Birds in an African National Park , 1969
• Antelopes (German: Die Welt der Tiere: Antilopen , translation by Theodor Haltorth ), 1970
• Wildlife in Cornwall: a naturalist's view of the southwestern peninsula , 1970
• Crocodile's Eggs for Supper, and other Animal Tales from Northern Uganda , 1973
• Mammals of East and Central Africa , 1975
• The Story of Bude Haven , 1977
• The Book of Bude and Stratton , 1980
• The Nature of Cornwall: the wildlife and ecology of the county , 1982
• A Cuckoo's Parting Cry: a personal account of life and work in Uganda between 1930 and 1960 , 1990

literature

• ADM Cox: In Memoriam Rennie Montague, Bere In: Alpine Journal 1992, pp. 325-326
• Geoff Milburn: Obituary Rennie Montague Bere In: The Climbers Club Journal 1991 Volume XXI No. 1 (New Series), pp. 148-151
• Ernest Kay: The International authors and writers Who's who , International Biographical Center , 1989. ISBN 978-090-033-288-3 : p. 65