https://indianpedia.org/index.php?action=history&feed=atom&title=Ajay_DesaiAjay Desai - Revision history2026-07-31T09:47:38ZRevision history for this page on the wikiMediaWiki 1.45.4https://indianpedia.org/index.php?title=Ajay_Desai&diff=485081&oldid=prevRosemaryBrifman at 16:32, 29 October 20242024-10-29T16:32:48Z<p></p>
<p><b>New page</b></p><div>{{Short description|Indian wildlife conservationist (1957–2020)}}<br />
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2020}}<br />
{{Infobox person<br />
| name =Ajay Desai<br />
| image = AjayDesai2.jpg<br />
| caption = Desai in [[Alur, Hassan|Aluru]], [[Hassan District]], India, 2014<br />
| birth_date = {{birth date|1957|7|24|df=y}}<br />
| death_date = {{death date and age|2020|11|20|1957|7|24|df=y}}<br />
| death_place = [[Belgaum]], [[Karnataka]], India<br />
| occupation = Wildlife conservationist and researcher<br />
| known_for = Studying wild elephant behavior; wildlife and human conflict<br />
| other_names = Elephant Man |alma_mater = [[Karnatak University]]}}<br />
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'''Ajay Adrushyappa Desai''', also known as, '''Elephant Man''',<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|title=Elephant expert Ajay Desai passes away at 63|url=https://www.newindianexpress.com/states/karnataka/2020/nov/21/elephant-expert-ajay-desai-passes-away-at-63-2226108.html|access-date=21 November 2020|website=The New Indian Express}}</ref> (24 July 1957 – 20 November 2020) was an Indian Field Biologist-conservationist and researcher specializing in behavior of wild elephants with a focus on wildlife conflicts with human settlement.<br />
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== Early life ==<br />
Desai's family was from [[Konnur]], [[Bagalkot district]], in Karnataka, and had settled in [[Belgaum]]. He completed his schooling in [[Belgaum]] and went on to complete his post graduate studies in [[Marine biology]] from [[Karnatak University]].<ref name=":1">{{Cite news|date=21 November 2020|title='Elephant Man' Ajay Desai passes away in Belagavi|language=en-IN|work=The Hindu|url=https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/karnataka/elephant-man-ajay-desai-passes-away-in-belagavi/article33145913.ece|access-date=21 November 2020|issn=0971-751X}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|last=Thomas|first=Wilson|date=21 November 2020|title=Desai did extensive work in T.N.|language=en-IN|work=The Hindu|url=https://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Coimbatore/desai-did-extensive-work-in-tn/article33145618.ece|access-date=21 November 2020|issn=0971-751X}}</ref><br />
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== Career ==<br />
Desai started his career with the [[Bombay Natural History Society]] from 1982<ref name=":2">Johnsingh, A.J.T. (2021). [https://www.asesg.org/PDFfiles/2021/53-51-AjayDesai.pdf Memories of Ajay Desai (24.7.1957-20.11.2020)]. Gajah 53, Pp 51-55.</ref> as a researcher and went on to spend many years focusing on studying elephant herding and track formation across the Indian reserves of [[Mudumalai National Park|Mudumalai]] and Sri Lanka.<ref name=":1" /> He was a wildlife conservationist and expert on [[Asiatic Elephant|Asiatic elephant]] behavior focusing on studying wildlife conflicts with human settlements.<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite web|date=21 November 2020|title=Elephant expert Ajay Desai passes away|url=https://starofmysore.com/elephant-expert-ajay-desai-passes-away/|access-date=21 November 2020|website=Star of Mysore|language=en-US}}</ref><br />
[[File:AjayDesai.jpg|thumb|Desai, radio-tracking an elephant in [[Hassan district]], Karnataka, 2014.]]<br />
His study built on radio tagging of elephants to track movements<ref name=":2" /> and was focused on wild elephant digression into human settlements including agricultural lands and the resulting damages. He argued through his reports that human actions including deforestation close to wildlife settlements was the cause for elephant movements into adjoining villages. He was an advocate for creation of dedicated animal movement corridors as means to conserve nature and wildlife.<ref name=":1" /><br />
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He was appointed by the [[Supreme Court of India]] as a part of a committee to study the Sigur elephant corridor in Tamil Nadu. He had completed the inspection between 7 and 9 November 2020, a few days prior to his death.<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite web|date=9 November 2020|title=Elephant corridor committee visits Masinagudi area|url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/coimbatore/elephant-corridor-committee-visits-masinagudi-area/articleshow/79118752.cms|access-date=21 November 2020|website=The Times of India|language=en}}</ref> The Supreme Court of India and the [[Chief Justice of India]] had also recommended his name for a committee to study the impacts of [[coal mining]] on the ecosystem near mining sites, in a court challenge by the [[Jharkhand]] state government against the central government's auction of coal blocks in the state, in 2020.<ref>{{Cite web|date=4 November 2020|title=Environment issue: SC sets up committee to look into coal block allocation|url=https://www.indialegallive.com/top-news-of-the-day/news/environment-issue-supreme-court-sets-up-committee-to-look-into-safety-in-jharkhand-coal-block-allocation/|access-date=21 November 2020|website=India Legal|language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|date=5 November 2020|first=Dhananjay|last=Mahapatra|title=Auctioned coal blocks may see green scrutiny|url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/auctioned-coal-blocks-may-see-green-scrutiny/articleshow/79052420.cms|access-date=21 November 2020|website=The Times of India|language=en}}</ref><br />
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He had earlier been a part of the [[Srisailam]] Tiger Reserve Committee in 2009, and also a member of the [[Nagarhole National Park|Nagarhole Tiger Reserve Committee]] focusing on relocation of wildlife between [[Nagarhole National Park|Nagarhole]] in Karnataka, and [[Mudumalai National Park|Mudumalai]] in Tamil Nadu. His focus was on studying animal behavior with an emphasis on studying wildlife conflict with human settlements.<ref name=":0" /><br />
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He was a member and co-chair of the Asian Elephant Specialist group at the [[International Union for Conservation of Nature|International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN)]] between 2005 and 2015,<ref name=":2" /> a member of the [[Karnataka High Court]] constituted elephant task force. He was also a member of the Indian [[Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change]]'s task force building out the National Elephant Action Plan, detailing actions that the ministry could take to mitigate conflicts between wild elephants and humans.<ref name=":0" /><br />
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He was also an advisor to the [[World Wide Fund for Nature]] in India, [[Wildlife Institute of India]], and also the [[Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit|Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit's]] biodiversity programs to mitigate elephant conflicts in the Indian states of Karnataka, West Bengal, and Uttarakhand.<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite news|date=27 October 2020|title=Sigur elephant corridor case committee chairman visits the landscape|language=en-IN|work=The Hindu|url=https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/tamil-nadu/sigur-elephant-corridor-case-committee-chairman-visits-the-landscape/article32955028.ece|access-date=21 November 2020|issn=0971-751X}}</ref><br />
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== Personal life ==<br />
Desai was married and had two children.<ref name=":1" /> He died on 20 November 2020, of cardiac arrest, at his home in [[Belgaum]], in Karnataka. He was 63.<ref name=":0" /><br />
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== Publications ==<br />
* {{Cite book|last=Desai|first=Ajay|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fuFFAAAAYAAJ|title=The Indian Elephant: Endangered in the Land of Lord Ganesha|date=1997|publisher=Vigyan Prasar & Sanctuary Magazine, Mumbai|isbn=978-81-7480-024-4|language=en}}<br />
* {{Cite book|last1=Desai|first1=Ajay|url=http://www.environmentandsociety.org/node/2655|title=Gajah. Securing the Future for Elephants in India.|last2=Rangarajan|first2=Mahesh|last3=Sukumar|first3=R.|last4=Easa|first4=P. S.|last5=Menon|first5=Vivek|last6=Vincent|first6=S.|last7=Ganguly|first7=Suparna|last8=Talukdar|first8=B. K.|last9=Singh|first9=Brijendra|date=2010|publisher=Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München|location=New Delhi}}<br />
*{{Cite web |last1=Desai|first1=Ajay|last2=Riddle|first2=H. S.|date=June 2015 |title=Human-Elephant Conflict in Asia |website=U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service |s2cid=5982092|url=https://www.fws.gov/international/pdf/Human-Elephant-Conflict-in-Asia-June2015.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151122023016/https://www.fws.gov/international/pdf/Human-Elephant-Conflict-in-Asia-June2015.pdf |archive-date=2015-11-22 |language=en}}<br />
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== References ==<br />
{{Reflist}}<br />
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== External links ==<br />
* {{YouTube|id=Z0BJdGaMjzs|title=Elephant Conservation and the Impact of Tourism}}<br />
*[https://www.asesg.org/index.php Asian Elephant Special Group]<br />
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{{Authority control}}<br />
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Desai, Ajay}}<br />
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[[Category:2020 deaths]]<br />
[[Category:Indian wildlife photographers]]<br />
[[Category:Elephant conservation]]<br />
[[Category:Indian ecologists]]<br />
[[Category:Indian conservationists]]<br />
[[Category:Members of the Bombay Natural History Society]]<br />
[[Category:1957 births]]</div>RosemaryBrifman