Kenneth Anderson - The Big Game Hunter From South India

Kenneth Anderson was a typical British Indian whoUnofficially he may have shot a few more and his
was born in India (Hyderabad) in 1910, lived in Indiatally could be about 35 big cats.
and finally died in India. There is no doubt that peopleKenneth also had the distinction of shooting a few
like Kenneth Anderson loved India. He was a sixthrogue elephants which is perhaps the most difficult
generation British whose ancestors hailed fromtask for a big game hunter.
Scotland. His father was a superintendent at Poona inKenneth operated in South India where he had a
FCMA and paid the salaries of military personnel. Heplantation. He used his wild life and hunting
was an honorary captain.experiences to great advantage and wrote some
Kenneth learned about guns from his father and soonexcellent books on hunting and wild life. Kenneth
he developed a love for wild life. But Kennethwrote many books which are available of the shelf in
Anderson never went back to his mother countrymost book stalls. His more famous books are 'Nine
and spent all his life in Bangalore where he died inMan-eaters and One Rogue" (1954), "The Black
1974. A lot of Englishmen left India in 1947 and evenPanther of Sivanipalli and Other Adventures of the
Jim Corbett went away to Kenya, but KennethIndian Jungle" (1959) and "Jungles Long Ago".All of
deserves credit as he stayed on In India afterthem make excellent reading.
freedom and never thought of going back to EnglandAnderson also gives us an excellent description of the
and Scotland.Indian jungles and the tribals who inhabit that area. In
Kenneth Anderson will however be remembered as afact Kenneth loved these tribals and he identified
big game hunter. He loved India and the simplewith them. He was one Englishman who integrated
villagers who resided in the south Indian jungles. Verywith the locals as he was fluent in Tamil and Kannada.
often these villagers fell prey to man-eating leopardsHis weapon was the.405 Winchester - heavy rifle
and tigers. Kenneth who loved big game hunting tookwhich he loved.
up the onerous task of getting rid of man eaters.Kenneth loved to hunt, but in later years he turned
Unlike most other hunters, Kenneth usually huntedto conservation of wild life. But we must salute this
the big cats alone. His official records are perhaps aScotsman who made India his home and lived for
shade below those of Jim Corbett but he did manageIndia without a thought of going back. That is his
to shoot 8 man eating leopards and 7 tigers.greatness.