THE LAST WHITE HUNTER: Reminiscences of a colonial shikari

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This is the extraordinary story of Donald Anderson, son of author Kenneth Anderson, and arguably the last of the shikaris from India s colonial past. From hunting tigers and panthers and angling for the mahseer, to being a stunt double in a Hollywood film, and eventually living his last days in penury, Donald Anderson chronicles his life from 1934 to 2014. The book is evocative of another era and brings to life Donald Anderson s story in a Bangalore that is no more. Times change, and Donald may not have achieved the fame his father attained; but his story is interesting in its own way, and Joshua Mathew does justice to his subject in a fair, sympathetic and very readable biography. Ruskin Bond My own fascination for jungles of Karnataka was nourished by Kenneth Anderson s hunting tales. I had sought his friendship a few years before he died, and wandered in these jungles, listening spell-bound to his tales. He had recounted how, after independence, destruction of India s wildlife and wild lands had accelerated. His son, Donald Anderson, came of age as an aspiring white hunter in that tumultuous period. This book is Donald s own story, told with the same rare candour and robust humour, which characterise his father s writings. Here is a graphic account of Bengaluru, when it was truly Bangalore : the Anglo-Indian society, its vanishing colonial glory, and, in full measure, the destruction of wildlife by the shikaris from yesteryear. I believe naturalists who can now watch wildlife in the comfort- if not luxury- of modern India s protected nature reserves, can learn much from Donald Anderson s rugged adventures. To them, I strongly recommend Mathew s superbly crafted narrative. It captures with great authenticity the fading echoes of the white hunter s voice. Dr. K. Ullas Karanth Technical Director, World Conservation Society Tiger Conservation Program I knew Don Anderson by reputation when I visited the Cauvery river in the 1980s. This is an account of a bygone age, about a man who loved India s forests. Jeremy Wade, author and host of the TV show River Monsters.