Came across this video I haven't seen before, a tribute to Donald Anderson, the son of the writer Kenneth Anderson, whose books brought us his and Donald's exploits when hunting man-eating tigers and leopards in Southern India.
Very interesting collection of photos and a record of the history of Kenneth and Donald.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qJznwgzhmCY

Thanks for posting that mate. Brings back nostalgic memories for several reasons.

The first clip of Don (he is taking a pee) was taken by my brother in Mudumalai Sanctuary around 2011. You can hear my brother's voice!

Later on there are a few snaps with the late Mark Davidar at Chital Walk - the wilderness camp that belonged to Mark's family & where you could watch tuskers leopards and even the odd tiger from the verandah

quote:

Originally posted by Nakihunter:
Thanks for posting that mate. Brings back nostalgic memories for several reasons.

The first clip of Don (he is taking a pee) was taken by my brother in Mudumalai Sanctuary around 2011. You can hear my brother's voice!

Later on there are a few snaps with the late Mark Davidar at Chital Walk - the wilderness camp that belonged to Mark's family & where you could watch tuskers leopards and even the odd tiger from the verandah

Naki
I was hoping you would come in, and I had actually wondered if your brother featured there somewhere as I remembered you had family acquainted with the Anderson's. Do you know if Donald actually made a recording of his ventures. He seemed to be starting a tale of his life in the video and then it ceased and just followed with a photographic tribute. Great and all it was to see this tribute, a live recording would be an absorbing memorial to that grand life he had.
Seeing the big fish Donald caught brought to life Corbett's accounts of fishing for some of those same species in Don's photos.

Very interesting to hear Donald was a double for Stewart Granger and see those photographs associated with that time in his life.

As far as I know Don kept his hunting stories to a very limited and trusted group. My brother is anti hunting - so ......

The issue is a bit complex and sensitive. India banned most hunting by 1971 and virtually all hunting by the late 80s. Don would have retired by then - into his mid 50s.

Many people still "hunted" (poached) on private property (not legal) and even in reserves. But this was so secretive that you would not know about it unless you were part of the group. I know of a senior government official who used to shoot black buck & wild boar even in 2011. No I was not part of the group? LOL!!! Being a Kiwi I was considered safe to share stories with!

Finally there is the issue of controversy about Kenneth Anderson and the validity of his stories. Do never claimed any maneater kills.

That famous photo of him shooting at a charging leopard is also dodgy in my opinion - How does the camera man get that perspective & how would a hunter shoot with a camera man directly in line of fire?

Yes the mahseer fishing is amazing in the Cauvery river. Still goes on - guided and licensed. Mark Davidar caught a monster 80 lbs mahseer in the Moyar river in the 80s. The first 80 pounder heard of in about 30 to 50 years!

The south Indian fish is the Silver Mahseer (less well known) while Corbet caught the Golden Mahseer. Considered by some to be the greatest fighting fresh water fish.

Mahseer fishing in the Cauvery has been shut down for a couple of years now by the government. Cruelty to animals laws being used to stop fishing or some such nonsense.

The story related to the photo of the charging leopard was told in Don's own words in his father's book, Maneaters and Jungle Killers.

The leopard had been given the name the "Great Panther of Mudiyanoor" and was not a maneater but was a very large animal and had killed a lot of stock animals and eventually the favourite Alsatian belonging to a well heeled friend of Don's father.

Don took on the task of finding and dispatching the leopard as his father was too busy with work at the time. Don wounded the leopard at night when sitting up over a kill and then tracked the blood the next morning with his friend Cedric the photographer tagging along about 20m behind.
Don did not see or sense the Leopard lying in ambush off to the side of a clearing and only heard the cough as the cat launched it's charge after he had walked past. Fortunately even though the cat came out of cover almost beside Cedric it obviously was focused on Don and pressed home the charge slowed by a damaged shoulder. Don turned and shot it with his trusty .423 Mauser bolt rifle just after Cedric tripped the shutter and got the photo. It was certainly a dangerous situation and the shot had to be made good. Photos can of course distort distances and angles but Don admitted he was shocked to see where Cedric had been standing when he took the shot.
Although he didn't say, but it was possible that the thin jacketed big lead nose .423" bullet did not pass through the length of the animal when it was hit in the throat. It was still growling and moving so Don put in another shot but this would have been angled well down I imagine.

Photo shopping was not around back then so I suppose those early cameras didn't lie.

Fascinating life, l wish l was born a hundred years back.