Famous ornithologist passes away

Born to Haji Syed Hussain and Kulsum Hussain on August 13, 1944 at Karkala, he joined the Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS) as a Research Assistant in 1969 in the Bird Migration Project, where he participated in many field assignments and ecological expeditions of renowned ornithologist Dr Salim Ali and Dillon Ripley on behalf of BNHS. He served as the Principal Scientist for BNHS between 1980 and 1990. He has done fieldwork and published scientific papers on several rare Indian species.

He served various offices and managed several key posts simultaneously. Presently, he was the chairman of Biodiversity Initiative Trust, India; Hon Wildlife Warden, Udupi Disttrict since 2004 and Member, Karnataka State Wildlife Advisory Board since 2006.

He was also associated with Smithsonian Institution, Washington; Laboratory of Ornithology, Cornell University; International Crane Foundation, Wisconsin among many other universities across the world.

Interestingly, a new species of frog has been named after Dr Hussein. A bachelor, Dr Hussain is accredited to have revived Aanekere, one of the large water bodies at Karkala in Dakshina Kannada district. Dr Hussain’s last rites will be performed after the arrival of his nephews.