Wildlife biologist K. Ullas Karanth, Director, Centre for Wildlife Studies, Bengaluru, was awarded the George Schaller Lifetime Award in Wildlife Conservation Science for his contribution to the field of conservation.
He is the first recipient of the award instituted by the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), New York, in honour of Dr. George Schaller, who is considered one of the greatest wildlife scientists and conservationists globally.
A release said the WCS George Schaller Lifetime Award in wildlife conservation science has been created to honour WCS colleagues for outstanding contributions to saving wildlife and wild places.
Dr. George Schaller said “it has been my honour and pleasure to know Ullas since 1988, and mentoring his early career with the WCS. No one, anywhere, has done better research and conservation on large carnivores than Ullas”.
Dr. Karanth was honoured by the WCS Board of Trustees at a function in New York on October 29, the release said.
He joined WCS in 1988 and his research is often described as pioneering and ground-breaking, the release added. His area of research and study focused on the ecology of tigers, sympatric predators and other large mammals, predator-prey population ecology, and mitigation of human-wildlife conflicts.
He has provided research expertise to projects across the world, including in Thailand, Malaysia, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Indonesia, Russia, as well as in Africa and Latin America, besides publishing hundreds of scientific papers, articles and authoring many books.
