Salim Moizuddin Abdul Ali was an Indian ornithologist and naturalist.
47 Facts About Salim Ali
2.
Sometimes referred to as the "Birdman of India", Salim Ali was the first Indian to conduct systematic bird surveys across India and wrote several bird books that popularized ornithology in India.
3.
Salim Ali became a key figure behind the Bombay Natural History Society after 1947 and used his personal influence to garner government support for the organisation, create the Bharatpur bird sanctuary and prevent the destruction of what is the Silent Valley National Park.
4.
Salim Ali was awarded the Padma Bhushan in 1958 and the Padma Vibhushan in 1976, India's third and second highest civilian honours respectively.
5.
Salim Ali was born into a Sulaimani Bohra family in Bombay, the ninth and youngest child of Moizuddin Abdul Ali.
6.
Salim Ali's father died when he was a year old and his mother Zeenat-un-nissa died when he was three.
7.
Salim was introduced to the serious study of birds by W S Millard, secretary of the Bombay Natural History Society where Amiruddin was a member, who identified an unusually coloured sparrow that young Salim had shot for sport with his toy air gun.
8.
Salim Ali was sent to Sind to stay with an uncle who had suggested that the dry air might help and on returning after such breaks in studies, he barely managed to pass the matriculation exam of the Bombay University in 1913.
9.
The forests surrounding this area provided an opportunity for Salim Ali to hone his naturalist and hunting skills.
10.
Salim Ali made acquaintance with J C Hopwood and Berthold Ribbentrop who were with the Forest Service in Burma.
11.
Salim Ali went to study commercial law and accountancy at Davar's College of Commerce but his true interest was noticed by Father Ethelbert Blatter at St Xavier's College who persuaded Ali to study zoology.
12.
Salim Ali was fascinated by motorcycles from an early age and starting with a 3.5 HP NSU in Tavoy, he owned a Sunbeam, Harley-Davidsons, a Douglas, a Scott, a New Hudson and a Zenith among others at various times.
13.
Salim Ali was hired as guide lecturer in 1926 at the newly opened natural history section in the Prince of Wales Museum in Mumbai with a salary of Rs 350 per month.
14.
Salim Ali found Stresemann warm and helpful right from his first letters sent before even meeting him.
15.
Salim Ali gained experience in bird ringing at the Heligoland Bird Observatory and in 1959 he received the assistance of Swiss ornithologist Alfred Schifferli in India.
16.
Later commentators have suggested that this study was in the tradition of the Mughal naturalists that Salim Ali admired and wrote about in three-part series on the Moghul emperors as naturalists.
17.
Salim Ali was aided and supported in these surveys by Hugh Whistler who had surveyed many parts of India and had kept very careful notes.
18.
Salim Ali found nothing amiss in Meinertzhagen's bird works but later studies have shown many of his studies to be fraudulent.
19.
Salim Ali is excellent at his own theoretical subjects, but has no practical ability, and at everyday little problems is hopelessly inefficient.
20.
Salim Ali is prepared to turn the British out of India tomorrow and govern the country himself.
21.
Salim Ali was accompanied and supported on his early surveys by his wife, Tehmina, and was shattered when she died in 1939 following a minor surgery.
22.
Salim Ali was not very interested in the details of bird systematics and taxonomy and was more interested in studying birds in the field.
23.
Salim Ali took some interest in bird photography along with his friend Loke Wan Tho.
24.
Salim Ali was interested in the historical aspects of ornithology in India.
25.
Salim Ali was very influential in ensuring the survival of the BNHS and managed to save the then 100-year-old institution by writing to the then Prime Minister Pandit Nehru for financial help.
26.
Salim Ali was able to provide support for the development of ornithology in India by identifying important areas where funding could be obtained.
27.
Salim Ali helped in the establishment of an economic ornithology unit within the Indian Council for Agricultural Research in the mid-1960s although he failed to gain support for a similar proposal in 1935.
28.
Salim Ali was able to obtain funding for migration studies through a project to study the Kyasanur forest disease, an arthropod-borne virus that appeared to have similarities to a Siberian tick-borne disease.
29.
Salim Ali attempted a citizen science project to study house sparrows in 1963 through Indian birdwatchers subscribed to the Newsletter for Birdwatchers.
30.
Salim Ali had considerable influence in conservation related issues in post-independence India especially through Prime Ministers Jawaharlal Nehru and Indira Gandhi.
31.
Salim Ali influenced the designation of the Bharatpur Bird Sanctuary, the Ranganathittu Bird Sanctuary and in decisions that saved the Silent Valley National Park.
32.
Salim Ali lived for some time with his brother Hamid Salim Ali who had retired in 1934 from the Indian Civil Service and settled at Southwood, ancestral home of his father in law, Abbas Tyabji, in Mussoorie.
33.
Salim Ali visited the school often and was an engaging and persuasive advocate of ornithology to successive generations of pupils.
34.
Salim Ali held many views that were contrary to the mainstream ideas of his time.
35.
Salim Ali held the view that the practice of wildlife conservation needed to be practical and not grounded in philosophies like ahimsa.
36.
Salim Ali suggested that this fundamental religious sentiment had hindered the growth of bird study in India.
37.
Salim Ali was known for his frugal lifestyle, with money saved at the end of many of his projects.
38.
Salim Ali discouraged smoking and drinking and detested people who snored in their sleep.
39.
Salim Ali received honorary doctorates from the Aligarh Muslim University, Delhi University and Andhra University.
40.
Salim Ali was nominated to the Rajya Sabha in 1985.
41.
Dr Salim Ali died in Bombay at the age of 90 on 20 June 1987, after a protracted battle with prostate cancer.
42.
Salim Ali wrote numerous journal articles, chiefly in the Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society.
43.
Salim Ali wrote a number of popular and academic books, many of which remain in print.
44.
Salim Ali credited Tehmina, who had studied in England, for helping improve his English prose.
45.
Salim Ali produced a number of regional field guides, including The Birds of Kerala, The Birds of Sikkim, The Birds of Kutch, Indian Hill Birds and Birds of the Eastern Himalayas.
46.
Salim Ali provided his own vision for the Bombay Natural History Society, noting the importance of conservation action.
47.
Salim Ali edited a collection of transcripts of radio talks given by Salim Ali, which was published in 2021.