Coimbatore: Wildlife biologist K Ramkumar succumbed to Covid-19 at a private hospital in Mayiladuthurai district on Tuesday. He was 43. He is survived by wife Sivaranjini and daughters Dheepthi Sangamitharai and Magathi.
Manager and project head of Wildlife Trust of India’s Elephant Corridor Securement Project-South India, he had helped the forest department identify elephant corridors in the state. He was also actively involved in conservation projects in Western Ghats.
K Kalidasan, president, OSAI, said it was a great loss to the wildlife conservation. “He was part of the team that identified 108 elephant corridors in the country. He was with us (OSAI) for the past 16 years and participated in wildlife census.”
K. Ramkumar
K. Ramkumar (43), a wildlife biologist from Tamil Nadu who died of COVID-19 on Tuesday, is remembered by conservationists as a person who dedicated his entire profession for the conservation of elephants and protection of corridors.
A native of Sirkali in Mayiladuthurai district, Ramkumar died at a hospital at Kumbakonam early on Tuesday.
A wildlife biologist attached to the Wildlife Trust of India (WTI), he was central in securing the Wayanad corridor over seven years and was also working to secure another corridor in BRT-Sathyamangalam landscape, WTI remembered Ramkumar in an obituary.
“He was the backbone in mapping the first edition of the ‘Right of Passage’, the corridor book that has become the go-to reference for elephant conservation in India. He has authored several research reports,papers and popular articles, and is co-editor of ‘Right of Passage: Elephant Corridors of India (2nd Edition),” it said.
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