Jim Corbett

Edward James Corbett grew up in Naini Tal, roaming India's jungles as a boy, and shot his first man-eater in 1907. Over four decades he tracked down animals like the Champawat Tiger and the Leopard of Rudraprayag, each responsible for hundreds of deaths in Kumaon and Garhwal, and killed them when colonial authorities couldn't. His 1944 memoir became an international bestseller and a Hollywood film three years later. He spent most of his working life with the railways, supervising cargo transport across the Ganges for twenty-two years, and commanded labour units in France during the First World War. Between the wars he organised trophy hunts for British India's elite and became friends with the Governor-General, but by then he'd turned against the killing - he pushed for India's first wildlife reserve in 1934 and promoted cameras over guns. He left for Kenya after independence in 1947 and died in Nyeri in 1955; the park he helped create now carries his name.