Wandering Tigers in North India

Tigers in the Himalayan foothills, filmed by famous hunter and conservationist Jim Corbett

Edward James (aka Jim) Corbett was one of India’s most famous big game hunters who, improbably, became one of its most significant conservationists. Filmed in the Himalayan foothills, this home movie, one of several he made, includes some detailed footage of tigers - drinking at a stream and feasting on their kill. Sadly, the opening of the film features a dead tiger, too.

Born in 1875 in Nainital, Uttarakhand, Corbett recorded his hunting exploits in a series of books including Man-Eaters of Kumaon - hugely popular boys’ own adventures that continue to be widely read. Corbett progressed from shooting the wildlife to preserving it and helped to form both the Association for the Preservation of Game in the United Provinces and the All-India Conference for the Preservation of Wild Life. Corbett left India with the rest of the British in 1947, and moved to Kenya where he died in 1955. India’s oldest national park was re-named the Jim Corbett National Park in his honour later that year.