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{{other uses|Karanth (disambiguation)}}
{{BLP sources|date=June 2012}}
{{Use Indian English|date=June 2016}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2016}}
{{Infobox person
|name = K. Ullas Karanth
|image =Ullas karanth2.jpg
|caption =
|birth_date = 1948
|birth_place = [[Puttur, Karnataka]], India
|known_for = Tiger Conservation
|education = [[Master of Science|Msc]] in wildlife ecology, [[University of Florida]]; [[PhD]] [[Applied ecology|Applied Zoology]], [[Mangalore University]]
|alma_mater =[[NITK]], [[Surathkal]]
|employer = [[National Centre for Biological Sciences]], Centre for Wildlife Studies, [[Wildlife Conservation Society]]
|occupation = [[Wildlife Conservation]], [[Conservation Biology]], [[Carnivora]] [[Biology]]
|years_active =1988–present
| movement =
| notable_works = over 135 international peer-reviewed scientific papers and popular articles, and seven books in English and Kannada
| spouse = Prathibha Karanth
| partner =
| children = Krithi Karanth
| awards = [[J. Paul Getty Award for Conservation Leadership]], [[Padma Shree]]
|parents =father: [[Shivram Karanth]]<ref name="H">. Leela karanth
{{cite web
|url=http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/mp/2002/09/12/stories/2002091200200100.htm
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030701025540/http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/mp/2002/09/12/stories/2002091200200100.htm
|url-status=dead
|archive-date=2003-07-01
|author=Sangeeta Barooah Pisharoty
|title=Tailing man's most admired enemy...
|date=2002-09-12
|location=Delhi
|work=[[The Hindu]]
|accessdate=2012-01-26
}}</ref>
|relations =
|callsign =
|signature =
|website =[http://cwsindia.org/home/?page_id=6 Dr K. Ullas Karanth, CWS]
|footnotes =
}}
'''K. Ullas Karanth''' is a conservation [[zoologist]] and a leading tiger expert based in [[Karnataka]], India. He was the director of the [[Wildlife Conservation Society|Wildlife Conservation Society's]] India Programme.<ref name=":0">{{Cite news|url=https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/interview/we-are-slow-to-adopt-science-for-conservation/article19303110.ece|title=K. Ullas Karanth: 'We are slow to adopt science for conservation'|last=Koshy|first=Jacob|date=2017-07-19|work=The Hindu|access-date=2020-01-14|language=en-IN|issn=0971-751X}}</ref> He is notable for pioneering the scientific use of [[camera trap]]s in [[population density]] studies of large wild mammals in India.
He was a Senior Conservation Scientist with the [[New York City|New York]] based Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) and Technical Director of the WCS Tiger Conservation Program.<ref name="V">
{{cite web
|last=Verma|first=Varuna|title='I was interested in saving the tiger. So I created enemies'
|url=http://www.telegraphindia.com/1080224/jsp/7days/story_8941596.jsp
|work=The Telegraph
|date=24 February 2008
|publisher=The Telegraph -- Calcutta
|accessdate=25 February 2011
}}</ref>
<ref name="CWS">
{{cite web
|url=http://cwsindia.org/home/?page_id=6
|author=CWS
|title=Founder Trustee and Director : Dr K. Ullas Karanth
|date=
|publisher=Centre for Wildlife Studies
|location= 1669, 31st Cross, 16th Main, Banashankari 2nd Stage, Bangalore – 560070
|accessdate=2012-01-26
}}</ref>

Karanth directed the WCS-I effort to help save [[Bengal tiger]]s, and has conducted country-wide surveys to better estimate their population and habitat needs. Working mainly in the [[Nagarhole National Park]], Karanth's work has demonstrated the importance of conserving [[prey]] populations in order to ensure the survival of [[Keystone species|keystone]] [[predator]] species such as the tiger.

In January, 2012, Karanth was conferred with the prestigious [[Padma Shri]] award for his outstanding contributions to Wildlife Conservation and Environment Protection.<ref name= "wcs"/>

==Early life==
Karanth is the son of noted [[Kannada]] writer, [[Shivaram Karanth]]. In his adolescence, Karanth read about naturalists trying to save tigers in Asia. While he resolved to join the effort, he did his [[B.Tech.]] in Mechanical Engineering from [[KREC]] (now known as [[NITK]]), [[Suratkal]], where he studied from 1966 to 1971. He then tried his hand at farming in Karnataka for several years.<ref>{{cite web
| last = Dreifus
| author-link = Claudia Dreifus
| first = Claudia
| title = Interview
| publisher = [[The New York Times]], reprinted in [[International Herald Tribune]]
| url = http://www.iht.com/articles/2005/08/16/news/tigers.php
| accessdate = 2006-09-03 }}
</ref>

His amateur biological observations of the flora and fauna of his native Karnataka State in Southern India, under severe pressure from incompatible human activity, spurred him to investigate [[Conservation biology|conservation models]] for the [[Western Ghats]], a global [[biodiversity hotspot]]. A 1983 meeting with a visiting [[Smithsonian Institution]] delegation paved the way for his travel to the US, where he studied in the [[National Zoological Park (United States)|National Zoo]]'s Wildlife Conservation and Management Training Program in 1987. He obtained his master's degree in Wildlife Ecology from the [[University of Florida]] in 1988, and a Doctorate in Applied Zoology from [[Mangalore University]] in 1993.<ref name="CWS"/><ref name= "wcs"/>

==Studies on tiger populations==
His single longest project is the monitoring of the health of forests and biodiversity in [[Nagarhole National Park|Nagarahole Wildlife Sanctuary and National Park]], Karnataka. Some results arising out of the study, on the status of tigers and their prey in particular, have been published in several scientific papers and books.

Karanth pioneered the scientific application of [[camera trap]]ping techniques of [[Mark and recapture|capture-recapture sampling]] as the foundation of scientific estimation of tiger population densities in forests.<ref name=":0" /> By applying a robust statistical model to camera trapping sampling data, a close estimate of tiger population in a given area can be determined. This is distinctly different from the [[pugmark]] method previously used by the Indian [[Ministry of Environment and Forests]], [[Project Tiger]] five-year tiger census. It is also different in its approach in that it does not claim to produce an absolute count of tigers in a given area but is more indicative of population levels.<ref>{{cite web
| last = Gubbi
| first = Sanjay
| title = The tiger trail
| work = [[The Hindu]]
| url = http://www.hinduonnet.com/thehindu/mag/2002/10/06/stories/2002100600570800.htm
| accessdate = 2006-09-03 }}
</ref>

This approach to tiger conservation relies on conservation of forests from both a prey and predator perspective. Karanth suggests that with such approaches, it is possible to preserve tigers in India and elsewhere.

==Other work==
Karanth has conducted groundbreaking research on the ecology of tigers and other large mammals. He pioneered radio-telemetry of tigers in India. He founded the Centre for Wildlife Studies, published more than 135 international peer-reviewed scientific papers and popular articles, and authored seven books in English and Kannada.

Karanth serves on the [[Government of India|Government of India's]] Forest Advisory Committee, [[National Tiger Conservation Authority]] (NTCA) and [[Government of Karnataka|Government of Karnataka's]] Tiger Conservation Foundation and Tiger Steering Committees. He is past Vice-President of the [[Bombay Natural History Society]] and a Scientific Advisor to several conservation advocacy groups in India. He is the Scientific Advisor to Wildlife First, a pro-active wildlife advocacy group and is prime mover in a WCS-funded multi-institutional initiative running a graduate program in Wildlife Biology and Conservation at the [[National Centre for Biological Sciences]] at [[Bangalore]]. In 2008, Karanth was elected a member of the [[Indian Academy of Sciences]].

Karanth is a scientific fellow of the [[Zoological Society of London]], and is on the editorial board of the journals ''[[Oryx]]'' and ''[[Journal of Applied Ecology]]''. He also serves on the [[IUCN Species Survival Commission]] specialist groups on Cats, Elephants, Wild Cattle and Small Carnivores. Karanth has adjunct teaching faculty status at NCBS, Bangalore and at the Department of Wildlife Biology, [[University of Minnesota]]. He also supervises doctoral candidates at [[Manipal University]], Karnataka.<ref name="CWS"/><ref name= "wcs"/>

Karanth was consulted by author [[R. K. Narayan]] who was working on his book [[A Tiger for Malgudi]], a book about an anthropomorphic tiger's adventures; because of his knowledge on the animal.<ref>
{{ cite web
| last = Verma
| first = Varuna
| title= 'I was interested in saving the tiger. So I created enemies'
| publisher = The Telegraph India
| date = 2008-02-24
| url = https://www.telegraphindia.com/1080224/jsp/7days/story_8941596.jsp
| accessdate = 2018-07-08 }}
</ref>

Karanth also works conservation policy issues and mitigation of [[human-wildlife conflict]]. Karanth has traveled widely to provide expert consultation to research/conservation projects in [[Thailand]], [[Malaysia]], [[Cambodia]], [[Laos]], [[Myanmar]], [[Indonesia]], [[Russia]], and some countries in Africa and Latin America. His work has been featured in international media including ''[[Nature (journal)|Nature]]'', ''[[The New York Times]]'', [[National Geographic Channel]], [[BBC]], [[CNN]] and the [[Discovery Channel]].<ref name="CWS"/>


==Awards==
[[File:Padma Shri India IIIe Klasse.jpg|thumb|50px|[[Padma Shri]] award]]
In 2006, Karanth received the [[Sierra Club]] International [[EarthCare award]]. In 2007, Karanth won the 200,000 [[J. Paul Getty Award for Conservation Leadership]].<ref>{{cite web |title=World Wildlife Fund's Prestigious Getty Award Given to India's Leading Expert on Tiger Conservation |url=http://www.worldwildlife.org/who/media/press/2007/WWFPresitem1007.html |website=World Wildlife Fund |publisher=worldwildlife.org |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20090916163850/http://www.worldwildlife.org/who/media/press/2007/WWFPresitem1007.html |archivedate=16 September 2009 |date=16 October 2007}}</ref> Also in 2007, he won the [[Sanctuary Asia]] lifetime achievement award.

In 2010, Karanth received the Karnataka Government’s [[Rajyothsava Award]]. In January 2012, Karanth was conferred with the prestigious [[Padma Shri]] award for his outstanding contributions to Wildlife Conservation and Environment Protection.<ref name="CWS"/><ref name="wcs">{{cite web
|url=http://cwsindia.org/home/?p=180
|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130414143052/http://cwsindia.org/home/?p=180
|url-status=dead
|archive-date=2013-04-14
|author=WCS
|title=WCS's Dr. Ullas Karanth Wins India's Padma Shri Award
|work=Hime, News and Features
|date=2012-01-26
|publisher=Wildlife Conservation Society
|location=2300 Southern Boulevard, Bronx, New York 10460
|accessdate=2012-01-26
}}</ref> In 2019, he was awarded the George Schaller Lifetime Award in Wildlife Conservation Science from the Wildlife Conservation Society.<ref>{{cite news |title=George Schaller lifetime award for Ullas Karanth |url=https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/karnataka/george-schaller-lifetime-award-for-ullas-karanth/article29925684.ece |accessdate=12 November 2019 |work=The Hindu |date=9 November 2019 |language=en-IN}}</ref>

==Publications==
Karanth has published over 80 peer reviewed papers including in [[scientific journal]]s such as ''[[Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences]]'', USA, ''[[Ecology (journal)|Ecology]]'', ''[[Journal of Applied Ecology]]'', ''[[Ecological Applications (journal)|Ecological Applications]]'', ''[[Journal of Animal Ecology]]'', ''[[PLoS Genetics]]'', ''[[Journal of Zoology]]'', ''[[Journal of Tropical Ecology]]'', ''[[Conservation Biology (journal)|Conservation Biology]]'', ''[[Biological Conservation (journal)|Biological Conservation]]'', ''[[Oryx (journal)|Oryx]]'' and scientific books published by [[Oxford University Press]], [[Cambridge Press]], [[Columbia University Press]], [[Elsevier]], [[Springer Science+Business Media|Springer]] and [[Island Press]]. He has authored the books ''The Way of the Tiger'' (2001) and ''A view from the Machan'' (2006) and co-edited ''Monitoring Tigers and their Prey'' (2002) and ''Camera traps in Animal Ecology'' (2010). He has written over 50 popular articles in English as well as popular articles and 3 books in [[Kannada language]]. He serves on the editorial boards of Oryx and Journal of Applied Ecology.

'''Books'''
*''The Way of the Tiger'' (Hardcover and Paperback, the latter by [[Orient Longman]])
*''View from the Machan - How Science Can Save The Fragile Predator'' (Orient Longman)<ref name="CWS2">{{cite web
|url=http://cwsindia.org/home/?page_id=13
|author=CWS
|title=Publications: Books and Products by CWS, Scientific Publications, Technical Reports and Dissertations
|date=
|publisher=Centre for Wildlife Studies
|location=1669, 31st Cross, 16th Main, Banashankari 2nd Stage, Bangalore – 560070
|accessdate=2012-01-26
}}{{Dead link|date=February 2020 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*[http://www.conservationindia.org/videos/main-threats-to-tiger-populations-interview-with-dr-ullas-karanth Video - 1:39]{{Dead link|date=February 2020 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} Main threats to tiger populations — Interview with Ullas Karanth
*{{YouTube|ppR7UMMFk34|Video - 5:54}} K. Ullas Karanth, Ph.D., Wildlife Conservation Society
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20100907040213/http://www.wcsindia.org/ullas.html Profile at WCS India]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20050329094635/http://www.hinduonnet.com/fline/fl1924/stories/20021206000407000.htm ''Frontline'' review of Karanth's book ''The Way of the Tiger'']

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Karanth, K. Ullas}}
[[Category:Indian conservationists]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Scientists from Bangalore]]
[[Category:National Institute of Technology, Karnataka alumni]]
[[Category:1948 births]]
[[Category:People from Dakshina Kannada district]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Padma Shri in other fields]]
[[Category:Indian environmentalists]]
[[Category:University of Florida College of Agricultural and Life Sciences alumni]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Rajyotsava Award 2010]]

K. Ullas Karanth - Revision history

imported>Billjones94 at 10:19, 29 August 2021