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{{Use Indian English|date=June 2016}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2021}}
'''Frederick Walter Champion''' (born 24 August 1893 in [[Surrey]], UK; died 1970 in Scotland) was a British [[forester]], who worked in [[British India]] and East Africa. In the UK and India he became famous in the 1920s as one of the first [[wildlife photography|wildlife photographers]] and [[conservation movement|conservationists]].

== Early life ==
Champion grew up in a family of nature lovers. His father was the English [[entomologist]] [[George Charles Champion]]. His brother Sir [[Harry George Champion]] was also a forester, well known for classifying the forest types of India.

Champion travelled to India in 1913 and served in the Police Department in East Bengal until 1916. He was commissioned into the [[British Indian Army]] Reserve of Officers (Cavalry branch) as a second lieutenant on 21 August 1916, promoted temporarily to captain on 8 March 1917 and to lieutenant on 21 August 1917.<ref>Indian Army List January 1919</ref> He saw service with the 31st Lancers and then he was appointed wing officer with the Kurram Militia on 8 March 1917, a [[Frontier Corps]] unit based on the [[North-West Frontier (military history)|North West Frontier]] of India.<ref>Indian Army List January 1919</ref> He retired a lieutenant but was granted the rank of captain on 1 May 1922.<ref>London Gazette 29 August 1922</ref>

== Commitment to conservation ==
After returning from the war, he joined the [[Indian Forest Service|Imperial Forestry Service]] in the [[United Provinces of Agra and Oudh|United Provinces]] of India and became Deputy Conservator of Forests.<ref>Thapar, V. (2001). Saving Wild Tigers, 1900-2000: the essential writings. Permanent Black, Delhi. p. 59 ([https://books.google.com/books?id=E83LhDWxOicC&lpg=PA57&dq=F.W.%20Champion&lr=&pg=PP8#v=onepage&q=F.W.%20Champion&f=false Book Preview)]</ref> Owing to his experiences during the war, he abhorred shooting and killing and blisteringly criticised [[sport hunting]]. He preferred shooting wildlife with a camera in the [[Sivalik Hills]] and pioneered [[camera trap]]ping: in the 1920s he developed cameras triggered by [[tripwire]]s. Using a [[flashlight]] as well, he obtained dozens of remarkable night-time photographs, which are among the first of wild [[Bengal tiger|tigers]], [[Indian leopard|leopards]], [[sloth bear]]s, [[dhole]]s and other wildlife. He recognized that with good photographs of tigers, it was possible to tell individuals apart by their different stripe patterns.

Champion was a passionate [[conservation movement|conservationist]], before conservation became fashionable, and campaigned hard for protection of tigers and their forest [[habitat]]s. He strongly believed in the protectionist role of the forest department in India.<ref>Niyogi, C. (ed.) (2006). Reorienting Orientalism. Sage Publications, New Delhi ({{ISBN|0761934472}}). pp. 210</ref> He championed the idea of limiting gun licenses, stopping motor-cars from entering Reserved Forests and reducing rewards for killing wildlife. His commitment to conservation inspired his friend [[Jim Corbett]], among other hunter-turned-conservationists. Together with Corbett, he was a founding member of India's first [[national park]] established in 1935, which was renamed to [[Corbett National Park]] in 1957.<ref>Rangarajan, M. (2006). India's Wildlife History: an Introduction. Permanent Black and Ranthambore Foundation, Delhi ({{ISBN|8178241404}}). p. 72</ref>

When India became [[India independence|independent]] in 1947, Champion moved to [[East Africa]], where he continued to work as Divisional Forest Officer for [[Kilimanjaro]] and the [[Serengeti]] until he retired.

==Publications==
* ''[https://archive.org/details/CameraTigerland With Camera in Tiger-land]''. Chatto & Windus, London 1927
* ''[https://archive.org/details/JungleSunlightShadow The Jungle in Sunlight and Shadow]'' Chatto & Windus, London 1934. Reprinted 1996 by Natraj Publishers, Dehra Dun, India.
* "Preserving Wildlife in the United Provinces" No. 4, The United Provinces. ''Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society'' Vol. 37 (1934), pp. 104–110. Reprinted in: Thapar, V. (2001) ''Saving wild tigers, 1900-2000: the essential writings''. Permanent Black, Delhi. pp. 57–68 ([https://books.google.com/books?id=E83LhDWxOicC&lpg=PA57&lr=&pg=PA57#v=onepage&f=false book preview])
* "From the Photographer's Point of View" In: Jepson, S. (ed.) (1936). ''Big game encounters: critical moments in the lives of well-known shikaris''. H.F. & G. Witherby, London. pp. 30–36 ([https://books.google.com/books?id=MKXGu_fXaXcC&lpg=PR4&lr=&pg=PA30#v=onepage&q=&f=false book preview])
* Correspondence: "The Protection of Wildlife". Indian Forester Vol. 55 (1939): 501–504.

== See also ==
* [[Kenneth Anderson (writer)|Kenneth Anderson]], writer in South India
* [[Indian natural history#Hunter-naturalists|Hunter-naturalists of India]]
* [[List of famous big game hunters]]
* [[Project Tiger]]

== Further reading ==
* Champion, J. (2012). ''Tripwire for a Tiger''. Rainfed Books, Madras. {{ISBN|9788192326900}}.
* Guggisberg, C. A. W. (1977). ''Early Wildlife Photographers''. David and Charles, London. pp. 45, 85–89, 228–229.
* Army Headquarters India (2012). ''Indian Army List January 1919 - Volume 1''. Andrews UK, Luton.
* The National Archives, Kew: [http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/SearchUI/details?Uri=D1754731 Medal card of Champion, Frederick Walter: Reference WO 372/4/782508]
* London Gazette

==References==
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Champion, F. W.}}
[[Category:1893 births]]
[[Category:1970 deaths]]
[[Category:Indian Army personnel of World War I]]
[[Category:British Indian Army officers]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian photographers]]
[[Category:Indian conservationists]]
[[Category:British conservationists]]
[[Category:English foresters]]
[[Category:Imperial Forestry Service officers]]
[[Category:Indian nature photographers]]
[[Category:British people in colonial India]]
[[Category:British people in British Kenya]]
[[Category:Military personnel from Surrey]]

Frederick Walter Champion - Revision history

Bot at 12:04, 29 October 2022