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{{short description|Indian hunter and conservationist}} | {{short description|Indian hunter and conservationist}} | ||
{{Use Indian English|date=June | {{Use Indian English|date=June 2015}} | ||
{{Use dmy dates|date=July | {{Use dmy dates|date=July 2020}} | ||
[[File:Billy Arjan Singh.jpg|thumb|Billy Arjan Singh]] | [[File:Billy Arjan Singh.jpg|thumb|Billy Arjan Singh]] | ||
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== Early life == | == Early life == | ||
{{Unreferenced section|date=August | {{Unreferenced section|date=August 2011}} | ||
Kunwar "Billy" Arjan Singh was born in [[Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh|Gorakhpur]] on 15 August 1917 as the second son of Kunwar Jasbir Singh, [[Order of the Indian Empire|CIE]] (1887–1942), a member of the royal Ahluwalia dynasty of [[Kapurthala]]. His grandfather was Raja [[Harnam Singh]] and his uncle was [[Raja Maharaj Singh]]. [[Rajkumari Amrit Kaur]] was his aunt and his elder brother was Air Vice-Marshal Kunwar Jaswant Singh, [[PVSM]] (1915–1963). In 1940, Singh was commissioned as a [[Second Lieutenant]] in the [[British Indian Army]] and was posted to the south of Iraq. | Kunwar "Billy" Arjan Singh was born in [[Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh|Gorakhpur]] on 15 August 1917 as the second son of Kunwar Jasbir Singh, [[Order of the Indian Empire|CIE]] (1887–1942), a member of the royal Ahluwalia dynasty of [[Kapurthala]]. His grandfather was Raja [[Harnam Singh]] and his uncle was [[Raja Maharaj Singh]]. [[Rajkumari Amrit Kaur]] was his aunt and his elder brother was Air Vice-Marshal Kunwar Jaswant Singh, [[PVSM]] (1915–1963). In 1940, Singh was commissioned as a [[Second Lieutenant]] in the [[British Indian Army]] and was posted to the south of Iraq. | ||
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In July 1976, he acquired a hand-reared female tiger cub named ''Tara'' from [[Twycross Zoo]] in the [[United Kingdom]], and reintroduced her to the wild in the Dudhwa National Park with the permission of India's then Prime Minister [[Indira Gandhi]].<ref>{{cite book|author=Singh, A. |year=1981 |title=Tara, a tigress |publisher= Quartet Books |location=London and New York |isbn=070432282X}}</ref> | In July 1976, he acquired a hand-reared female tiger cub named ''Tara'' from [[Twycross Zoo]] in the [[United Kingdom]], and reintroduced her to the wild in the Dudhwa National Park with the permission of India's then Prime Minister [[Indira Gandhi]].<ref>{{cite book|author=Singh, A. |year=1981 |title=Tara, a tigress |publisher= Quartet Books |location=London and New York |isbn=070432282X}}</ref> | ||
In the 1990s, some tigers were observed in the protected area, which had a [[Siberian tiger]] [[phenotype]] of a large head, pale pelage, white complexion, and wide stripes, and were therefore suspected to be Bengal-Siberian tiger [[Hybrid (biology)|hybrids]]. Billy Arjan Singh sent hair samples of tigers from the area to the [[Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology]] in [[Hyderabad, India|Hyderabad]] where the samples were analysed using [[Mitochondrial DNA|mitochondrial]] sequence analysis. Results revealed that the tigers in question had a Bengal tiger mitochondrial [[haplotype]] indicating that their mother was a Bengal tiger.<ref>{{cite journal |author1=Shankaranarayanan, P. |author2=Singh, L. |year=1998 |url=http://www.iisc.ernet.in/~currsci/nov10/articles18.htm |title=Mitochondrial DNA sequence divergence among big cats and their hybrids |journal=Current Science |volume=75 |issue=9 |pages=919–923 |access-date=18 September 2007 |archive-date=12 July 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160712160934/http://www.iisc.ernet.in/~currsci/nov10/articles18.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref> Skin, hair and blood samples from 71 tigers collected in various Indian zoos, in the [[Indian Museum|National Museum in Kolkata]] and including the two hair samples from Dudhwa National Park were prepared for [[Microsatellite (genetics)|microsatellite]] analysis that revealed that two tigers had [[allele]]s in two [[Locus (genetics)|loci]] that were contributed by Bengal and Siberian tiger subspecies.<ref>{{cite journal|author=Shankaranarayanan, P. |author2=Banerjee, M. |author3=Kacker, R. K. |author4=Aggarwal, R. K. |author5=Singh, L. |name-list-style=amp |year=1997 |url=http://www.freewebs.com/hmgrgcb/publication/Elec%20shankar%20et%20al%201997.pdf |title=Genetic variation in Asiatic lions and Indian tigers |journal=Electrophoresis |volume=18 |issue=9 |pages=1693–1700 |doi=10.1002/elps.1150180938 |pmid=9378147 |s2cid=41046139 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20130723034412/http://www.freewebs.com/hmgrgcb/publication/Elec%20shankar%20et%20al%201997.pdf |archivedate=23 July | In the 1990s, some tigers were observed in the protected area, which had a [[Siberian tiger]] [[phenotype]] of a large head, pale pelage, white complexion, and wide stripes, and were therefore suspected to be Bengal-Siberian tiger [[Hybrid (biology)|hybrids]]. Billy Arjan Singh sent hair samples of tigers from the area to the [[Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology]] in [[Hyderabad, India|Hyderabad]] where the samples were analysed using [[Mitochondrial DNA|mitochondrial]] sequence analysis. Results revealed that the tigers in question had a Bengal tiger mitochondrial [[haplotype]] indicating that their mother was a Bengal tiger.<ref>{{cite journal |author1=Shankaranarayanan, P. |author2=Singh, L. |year=1998 |url=http://www.iisc.ernet.in/~currsci/nov10/articles18.htm |title=Mitochondrial DNA sequence divergence among big cats and their hybrids |journal=Current Science |volume=75 |issue=9 |pages=919–923 |access-date=18 September 2007 |archive-date=12 July 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160712160934/http://www.iisc.ernet.in/~currsci/nov10/articles18.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref> Skin, hair and blood samples from 71 tigers collected in various Indian zoos, in the [[Indian Museum|National Museum in Kolkata]] and including the two hair samples from Dudhwa National Park were prepared for [[Microsatellite (genetics)|microsatellite]] analysis that revealed that two tigers had [[allele]]s in two [[Locus (genetics)|loci]] that were contributed by Bengal and Siberian tiger subspecies.<ref>{{cite journal|author=Shankaranarayanan, P. |author2=Banerjee, M. |author3=Kacker, R. K. |author4=Aggarwal, R. K. |author5=Singh, L. |name-list-style=amp |year=1997 |url=http://www.freewebs.com/hmgrgcb/publication/Elec%20shankar%20et%20al%201997.pdf |title=Genetic variation in Asiatic lions and Indian tigers |journal=Electrophoresis |volume=18 |issue=9 |pages=1693–1700 |doi=10.1002/elps.1150180938 |pmid=9378147 |s2cid=41046139 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20130723034412/http://www.freewebs.com/hmgrgcb/publication/Elec%20shankar%20et%20al%201997.pdf |archivedate=23 July 2013}}</ref> However, samples of two hybrid specimens constituted a too small base to conclusively presume that ''Tara'' was the source of the Siberian tiger genes.<ref>Menon, S. (1997). [http://www.india-today.com/itoday/17111997/wild.html ''Tainted Royalty''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080630013849/http://www.india-today.com/itoday/17111997/wild.html |date=30 June 2008 }}. India Today.</ref> | ||
== Awards == | == Awards == | ||
For his contributions to conservation, Arjan Singh was widely honoured. In 1996, he was awarded the ''World Wildlife Gold Medal'', and obtained the [[Order of the Golden Ark]] in 1997.<ref>{{cite web |author=WWF |url=http://worldwildlife.org/stories/tiger-hero-billy-arjan-singh |title=Tiger hero: 'Billy' Arjan Singh |year=2010 |publisher=WWF, 4 January | For his contributions to conservation, Arjan Singh was widely honoured. In 1996, he was awarded the ''World Wildlife Gold Medal'', and obtained the [[Order of the Golden Ark]] in 1997.<ref>{{cite web |author=WWF |url=http://worldwildlife.org/stories/tiger-hero-billy-arjan-singh |title=Tiger hero: 'Billy' Arjan Singh |year=2010 |publisher=WWF, 4 January 2010}}</ref> | ||
In 2004, Arjan Singh received the [[J. Paul Getty Trust|Getty]] Award, administered by the [[World Wildlife Fund]], for his innovative contribution to conservation and for creating public awareness. In 2006, he received the ''Yash Bharati award'' and the [[Padma Bhushan]] two months later.<ref>{{cite web|author=Atroley, A. |url=http://www.wwfindia.org/news_facts/index.cfm?uNewsID=1160 |title=Billy Arjan Singh awarded Padma Bhushan. |year=2006 |publisher=WWF India, 30 March | In 2004, Arjan Singh received the [[J. Paul Getty Trust|Getty]] Award, administered by the [[World Wildlife Fund]], for his innovative contribution to conservation and for creating public awareness. In 2006, he received the ''Yash Bharati award'' and the [[Padma Bhushan]] two months later.<ref>{{cite web|author=Atroley, A. |url=http://www.wwfindia.org/news_facts/index.cfm?uNewsID=1160 |title=Billy Arjan Singh awarded Padma Bhushan. |year=2006 |publisher=WWF India, 30 March 2006}}</ref> | ||
He also received the ''Lifetime Award for Tiger Conservation''.{{citation needed|date=June | He also received the ''Lifetime Award for Tiger Conservation''.{{citation needed|date=June 2013}} | ||
== Legacy == | == Legacy == | ||