A true conservationist

Few are aware that the path snaking into the heart of Munnar8217;s Eravikulam National Park is known as the 8220;Gouldsbury Track8221;...

Few are aware that the path snaking into the heart of Munnar8217;s Eravikulam National Park is known as the 8220;Gouldsbury Track8221; 8212; in honour of the late British tea planter and conservationist who perhaps did more to preserve wildlife in these hills than anyone else.nbsp;John Gouldsbury managed a tea estate near Munnar where my father worked. As a boy, I recall him zipping up and down the road past our house on his Francis Barnett motorcycle, anbsp;battered hat clamped over his unruly silver-streaked locks with a nervous assistant perched precariously on the pillion.nbsp;

A World War II veteran who was awarded a Military Cross, JG was a sharpshooter. In the 8217;60s, I had seen him effortlessly peppering clay pigeons with his shotgun at the annual Thorpe Cup shooting competition.nbsp;Quite knowledgeable about nature, he competently nurtured and headed the local wildlife and angling associations for several years.nbsp;And when a proscribed rogue elephant had to be put down, it was he who led the hunt 8212; a task that often saddened him.nbsp;

Once, I had been trout fishing for hours without success when JG, the expert angler, joined me.nbsp;In no time he caught several fair-sized trout, generously gifting these to me along with a few fishing flies and tips on angling.nbsp;Back home, I shamelessly bragged that I had caught all the fish myself. Eravikulam, a remote, mountainous area rich in wildlife, notably the endangered Nilgiri tahr, originally belonged to a local British tea company: JG8217;s employers.nbsp;He loved to frequent this beautiful and unsullied haven with his family, sometimes spending Christmas in its splendid isolation.nbsp;

Thanks to the untiring efforts of local conservationists spearheaded by the indomitable JG, in 1971, Eravikulam was declared a wildlife sanctuary and eventually a National Park in 1978 8212; Kerala8217;s first. JG lived to see his cherished dream come true.nbsp; Before leaving India, he made an impassioned appeal to all concerned through the visitors8217; logbook at Eravikulam to leave the park8217;s pristine splendour untouched 8212; a request that has, thankfully, been heeded so far.nbsp;