Kenneth Anderson (writer)

Infobox Writer
name = Kenneth Anderson


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caption = Kenneth Anderson and his pariah dog Nipper, whom he adopted during his hunt for the Leopard of Gummalapur
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birthdate = 1910
birthplace = Bangalore, India
deathdate = 1974
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nationality = Indian
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subject = Wildlife, big game hunting, Southern India
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Kenneth Anderson (1910-1974) was an Indian writer and hunter who wrote many books about his adventures in the jungles of South India.

Background

Kenneth Anderson hailed from a Scottish family settled in India for six generations. His father was superintendent of the F.C.M.A. in Poona and dealt with the salaries paid to military personnel, having an honorary rank of captain. His father also had a rifle and often hunted for waterfowl. Even though his father was not a hunter of man eating carnivores, he was the person who had the most influence on Anderson's decision to become a professional hunter.

chooling and Early Career

Kenneth Anderson did his schooling in Bishop Cotton School Bangalore and then at St Joseph's College. He worked for many years at the post office and during the war at the Hindustan Aircraft Factory as a superintendent in the blueprint and planning department. He lived in a bungalow not far from Queen Victoria's statue at the head of the South Promenade (called Mahatma Gandhi Road today) and also owned some land near Bannerghatta, today a suburb of Bangalore.

Career as a Hunter

His love for the inhabitants of the Indian jungle led him to big game hunting and eventually to writing real-life adventure stories. He would often go into the jungle alone and unarmed to meditate and enjoy the beauty of untouched nature. As a professional hunter, he searched out man-eating big game to eliminate the threat they posed to villages. Some of his most notable kills include the Sloth bear of Mysore, the Leopard of Gummalapur, the Leopard of the Yellagiri Hills, the Tigress of Jowlagiri, the Tiger of Segur and the Tiger of Mundachipallam.

Hobbies

His books are hailed as classics of jungle lore. His style of writing is unassuming, descriptive and engaging as he talks about his adventures with many wild animals. While most stories are about hunting tigers and panthers (or leopards) - particularly those that were man-eaters - he also includes chapters on his first-hand encounters with dangerous elephants, bison, and bears. There are also stories about the less 'popular' creatures like Indian wild dogs, hyenas, and snakes. He takes pains to explain the habits and personalities of these animals.

Anderson also gives valuable insights into the people of the Indian jungles of his time, with their lush green woods teeming with wildlife and local inhabitants having to contend with poor quality roads, communication and health facilities. His books delve into the habits of the jungle tribes, their survival tactics, and their day-to-day lives.

Besides focusing on Indian wildlife, he also explores the subject of the occult and writes about his live experiences with unusual phenomena (for which he has no explanation). He helped save the jungle dwelling tribes from the horrors of man-eaters in many villages in the south Indian states. He also was well versed in speaking Kannada, the language of his home town Bangalore, and also spoke Tamil, the language spoken in the neighboring states to some extent. He had a Studebaker car and usually used a .405 Winchester rifle for hunting. Despite his reputation as a hunter, he was a pioneer of wildlife conservation in southern India, and spent his later years "shooting" with a camera.

Books

Anderson's books are fairly popular, and recently two omnibuses of his work have been published. The following is a list of the books written by him:
* "Nine Maneaters And One Rogue" (1954)
* "The Black Panther of Sivanipalli and Other Adventures of the Indian Jungle" (1959)
* "Jungles Long Ago
* "Man Eaters and Jungle Killers
* "Tiger Roars
* "Tales from the Indian Jungle
* "This is the Jungle
* "The Call of the Man Eater

In addition to the themes of adventure and survival, Anderson also expounds on his love for India, its people, and its jungles. He was a firm believer in the power of alternative medicine and always carried a box containing various kinds of natural herbs from the jungle with him. Anderson died of cancer at the age of 64.

External links

* [http://www.archive.org/details/ninemaneatersand001389mbp Nine man-eaters and one rogue 1955]
* [http://www.archive.org/details/blackpantherofsi017654mbp The Black Panther Of Sivanipalli 1959]
* [http://groups.yahoo.com/group/kennethanderson/ Yahoo Group] (yahoo group dedicated to Kenneth Anderson)