Tiger Haven

Eminent wildlife activist and author Billy Arjan Singh died at his home in Lakhimpur Kheri late on Friday night. Singh, whose house ‘Tiger Haven’ was situated in the vicinity of the Dudhwa National Park, was ailing for quite some time. He was 94.

A wildlife enthusiast who was known for his work on the big cats, Singh was born in Gorakhpur district in eastern UP. A scion of the Ahluwalia royal family from Kapurthala, Singh was a second lieutenant with the British Indian Army and fought the second World War in 1946. After returning to India, he purchased a small farmland in Lakhimpur Kheri district near the forest area, and created his house naming it Tiger Haven. The forest area was later developed as the Dudhwa Wildlife Sanctuary, with Singh said to have played a major role in it.

Singh had been conferred with a number of national and international awards for his wildlife conservation efforts. The Indian government presented him with the Padma Shri in 1995 and the Padma Bhushan in 2006. In 2004, the World Wildlife Fund conferred on him the J Paul Getty Wildlife Conservation Award in recognition of his outstanding contribution to international conservation. The Uttar Pradesh government had also conferred the Yash Bharti award on him.