My bears and other animals: ‘The Wildlife Stories of An Armyman’ is a fine literary accomplishment

I first met Lieutenant Colonel Shakti Ranjan Banerjee during a Nature Club school festival in Kolkata in 1995 where he was the chief guest. During the occasion, I learnt that he had been involved, in the capacity of being the director of the West Bengal wing of World Wide Fund For Nature India(WWF), in many wildlife protection endeavours throughout the country.

It was enlightening to learn from his experience of releasing illegally traded birds in Delhi and his almost single singlehanded effort to rescue a sloth bear named Sharmi, who had been incarcerated in a cage situated on Rashbehari Avenue in Kolkata.

Colonel Banerjee’s dedicated effort led to this bear being rescued from a thoroughly inadequate ambience to a rescue centre for wild animals in Jhargram. This introduction to Colonel Shakti Ranjan Banerjee resulted in a lasting relationship that has endured till this day.

I have always been of the view that individuals working with animals in India ought to write about their experiences more often than they actually do. There is a genuine dearth of literature on animal and wildlife protection in India because in many cases, naturalists have not bothered to narrate their experiences in print.

Therefore, it came as welcome news when, earlier this year, I learnt that Colonel Banerjee had written about some of his wildlife sojourns in a book named The wildlife stories of an armyman, being released at the annual Kolkata Book Fair.

This book, given the experience and the range of experiences of the author, is long overdue and the narrative is both a historical and ecological account of India’s diverse flora and fauna.

The author has spent more than two decades protecting tigers in the wild. Photograph of tiger in Ranthambore by Payel Biswas.

The author is an army personnel and started the Eco Cell of the Indian Army in 1986, to raise awareness on the importance of the safeguarding of the environment among the defenders of the nation’s security.

Colonel Banerjee, over the years, has undertaken numerous projects to educate soldiers on their duties to save the unique flora and fauna of India.

Notably, inter alia, the Indian army has undertaken initiatives to save black-necked cranes and snow leopards in Ladakh, rhinos and various other species in Assam, markhors in Kashmir and in a remarkable instance, recently, to rescue an elephant in Uttarakhand.

It would not be an exaggeration to state that Colonel Banerjee’s personal enthusiasm and affection for wildlife have been passed into the ethic of the Eco Cell of the Indian army, as seen in the book.

Colonel Banerjee recounts many experiences with a wide variety of species in the book, including close encounters with elephants and leopards during his stint at Sukhna Military Station in North Bengal, protecting blackbucks and chinkaras in Rajasthan with the help of the Bishnoi community and his memories of interacting with people during tiger conservation efforts in the Sunderbans in both West Bengal and Bangladesh.

It has been enlightening to read about how he accompanied Sir Edmund Hillary of Mount Everest fame, in Dulpura, in Rajasthan to observe free living blackbucks.

Teddy, the Himalayan Black Bear rescued and rehabilitated by Shakti Ranjan Banerjee Photograph : Shakti Ranjan Banerjee

Sir Edmund Hillary admired the compassionate approach of the Bishnois toward their fellow animals, as ingrained in the ancient Indian ethic of ahimsa, a feeling shared by many others across the world, including the late Prince Philip, who was patron of WWF.

For me, personally, the highlight of the book was the account of the rescue of three Himalayan Black Bears from the Naga Hills in Manipur and their subsequent rehabilitation in Delhi Zoo.

The heartwarming account of Teddy, Raja and Rani is thoroughly enjoyable and reminded me of the bond between Bruno the sloth bear and Kenneth Anderson that was narrated in the book, The Call Of The Man Eater, published in 1961.

Whilst we are familiar with many foreign books and films describing the relationship between humans and wild animals, firsthand experiences of people with wild animals as their companions are rare in Indian wildlife literature, so Colonel Banerjee’s recollection of his interactions with Teddy, Raja and Rani are of considerable interest for students of ethology (animal behaviour).

I feel the book could have been a more extended one, given the author’s vast field experience, and there are more wildlife stories in his sack, including his memory of meeting Gerald Durrell during his India trip in 1978.

Incidentally, Colonel Banerjee is the principal petitioner in the Supreme Court case filed in 2014, to improve the lot of captive elephants in India, an issue on which World Animal Protection (where I work) is assiduously working now.

I hope a second volume to The Wildlife Stories of An Armyman is forthcoming. In the meanwhile, I can only congratulate the author on his fine literary accomplishment and thank him for the permanent pleasure he has provided by so doing, to all of us.

Shubhobroto Ghosh is Wildlife Research Manager at World Animal Protection in India and author of the book, Dreaming In Calcutta And Channel Islands

The Wildlife Stories of An Armyman (2023)

Published by Arjan Basu Roy

CITADEL, Kolkata

Price: Rs 250 

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