Kishore Chaudhuri (1946-2017), a frequent contributor to The Statesman on wildlife conservation for more than three decades, passed away at AIIMS New Delhi after a prolonged battle for survival lasting over three months.

Kishore was an avid conservationist, an amateur naturalist, a great defender of elephants and had travelled widely across continents with his life-long companion and wife Papri. For more than ten years, the couple shifted their home-base to Haridwar from Kolkata but Kishore continued to contribute to The Statesman from his new Himalayan abode till the end of 2016.

Kishore passed away the day media reported the sighting of a Royal Bengal Tiger in Neora Valley national park after a long period of waiting. Very few people will remember that it was Kishore at the age of 35, an active member of a Himalayan club, who ran from pillar to post to stop construction of an engineering project for supplying water from Neora-Khola, running through the deep gorges with the objective of supplying water to Kalimpong town. Such a project would have caused serious disturbance to the pristine ecosystem and there were opportunities to have an alternative plan. It was then that Kishore, accompanied by Bonani Kakkar, then with World Wide Fund for Nature India (WWF-I) and presently secretary, People United for Better Living in Calcutta (PUBLIC) approached this writer with a request to undertake a survey by the Zoological Survey of India, under the newly formed department of environment, government of India. With support of the then director, ZSI, a team of five members was attached to the Himalayan club and WWF-I team which had also an officer deputed from the Signal Corps, Eastern Command to help keep in touch. The ZSI team (late Dr. R.K. Kakkar, Dr. R.K Ghosh and others) also carried a movie camera to document the entire expedition. The survey report and the photographic evidence were good enough to convince the state and the central government to abandon the proposed project and to also consider the suggested alternatives.

After prolonged debate Neora valley was declared a national park in 1986. It is a strange coincidence that the elusive tiger was sighted in the Neora valley national park and was photographed by a cab driver on the day Kishore was breathing his last at AIIMS in New Delhi. The recent news on banning the ivory trade in South Africa is also a tribute to his lifelong effort to save elephants across the world. Kishore should be resting in peace with a smile hidden by his moustache. But with a profound sense of loss, his numerous friends and admirers will continue to miss him. His passion for forests made him restlessly move from Kolkata to Betla in Pelamu and on to the Himalayas. He will remain an inspiring force for wildlife and nature lovers across the country and beyond for years to come.

The writer is director, centre for environment and development and former director ZSI.