One of India’s best known naturalists and ornithologists, Zafar Futehally, passed away on Sunday at his home in Kihim in Maharashtra, where he had moved a few months ago from Bangalore.
He was 93.
He had suffered from bronchial infection.
Mr. Futehally spearheaded the early years of the conservation movement in India, serving as a link between conservationists and corporates, says Theodore Baskaran, a friend, author and trustee of World Wildlife Fund-India.
The Newsletter for Birdwatchers , which he founded, was a vital publication and served to document observations at a time when there was no digital documentation and there were few scientific studies on wildlife in the country, Mr. Baskaran said.
“He may not have been known so much for field work as Salim Ali was, but he galvanised people and encouraged discussion. He was a mentor to an entire generation of budding naturalists, encouraging them to follow their passion for conservation,” he said.
Mr. Futehally was associated for 60 years with the Bombay Natural History Society, of which he was honorary secretary for 16 years, till the 1970s, when he shifted to Bangalore.
In Bangalore, Mr. Futehally’s home for four decades, he will be most remembered for nurturing a vibrant birdwatching community, said scientist and friend S. Subramanya.
Mr. Futehally is survived by his wife Laeeq, author of a book on Indian birds; daughter Zai, also an author; and grandchildren.
His older daughter Shama, a celebrated novelist, passed away in 2004.
