India has a range of biogeographic regions that support a variety of plant and animal life. The fourth in the Bombay Natural History Society's popular series that aims at making accessible old writings, drawings and paintings of India's rich flora and fauna, this book discusses the Himalayas, its foothills, and the adjoining terai and duar grassland-forests. Focusing on the mammals of the Himalayan region, the book draws largely on the pioneering work of S.H. Prater and R.A. Sterndale. The volume includes close to 70 pages colour plate section, 95 colour illustrations, and 5 black and white drawings: the paintings of Paul Barruel and O.F. Tassert, specially made for Prater's work; full page plates illustrating Himalayan birds; Himalayan landscapes by Major Edward Molyneux and Colonel George Strahan; and botanical paintings of Himalayan flowers by Forbes Royale.
Foreword by the late B.G. Deshmukh
Preface and Acknowledgements
An Invocation to the Himalayas; Himalayas: Nature's Cradle
India's Wonderful Fauna
Mammals of the Himalayan Sub-Region
Primates / Deer / Antelopes / Goat-Antelopes / Mountain Goats / Mountain Sheep / Wild Cattle / Pigs / Elephant / Wild Ass / Rhinoceroses / Bears / Canids / Felids / Civets / Mongooses / Badger / Otters / Martens / Weasels / Hares / Moles / Shrew / Porcupines / Squirrels / Large Flying Squirrels / Small Flying Squirrels / Marmots / Vole / Bamboo Rats / Bats
Biographies of Writers and Artists
Bibliography
Sponsors
B.F. Chhapgar, a renowned thalassographer, was curator of the Taraporevala Aquarium from 1956 to 1965 and Researcher Officer-in-Charge of the Taraporevala Marine Biological Station in 1973. He has discovered six new forms of animals previously unknown to science, and has authored thirteen books and over 100 scientific papers and popular articles. Ashok S. Kothari is Honorary Seceretary of Bombay Natural History Society. He authored A Celebration of Indian Trees for Friends of the Trees (FOT), co-edited with B.F. Chhapgar three previous books for BNHS, and has contributed nearly 1200 articles to Indian language and English dailies and magazines.
"[...] The text is punctuated by high quality B&W and colour drawings of the animals. The most striking full-page paintings, scattered every few pages through the book, are of birds and a few plants, although there is no text on these. This is just the book to give as a gift or to enjoy on a quiet evening with a glass of whisky (perhaps while wearing a pith helmet)."
- Peter Thomas, British Ecological Society Bulletin, August 2013