The Rumbling Island

The forests of India are not only home to a wide variety of animals and birds but also teem with committed conservationists, naturalists and nature lovers. After spending many years with wildlife, these men and women bring us fascinating stories of their experiences and encounters.

Cliff Rice, an animal explorer, camps for two years in the mountains of Kerala and befriends the Nilgiri tahr with fistfuls of salt. Ralph Morris, one of the first British coffee planters in the Biligirirangan Hills of Karnataka, goes on a ‘ tiger beat’ and ends up chasing a pair of tigers towards his daughter, who is armed only with pebbles to defend herself. Sally Walker comes to India to learn yoga and Sanskrit but spends years caring for baby chimpanzees and tiger cubs in zoos instead. Rom Whitaker, a reptile conservationist, sets off on an international hunt for giant crocodiles that takes him from Orissa to Egypt, and Manish Chandi tells a fascinating tale about Meroe— the rumbling Nicobar island— where he studied sea turtles and other wildlife.

Zai Whitaker, herself a nature writer and author of well-loved children's books, brings together in this collection the writings of eminent wildlife experts such as Bittu Sahgal, Ian Lockwood, Ramachandra Guha and many others. Filled with anecdotes that are at once incredible and informative, The Rumbling Island is an entertaining account of India's most precious natural asset— our forests.

Zai Whitaker is the managing trustee of the zoo and conservation centre, the Madras Crocodile Bank Trust and Centre for Herpetology, which she co-founded in 1976. Her interest in wildlife and conservation began in childhood, as she grew up in a family of naturalists, including the ‘ Birdman of India’ , Salim Ali. She has written twenty books, including Andamans Boy, Kali and the Rat Snake and the latest, Termite Fry.
She has also taught English at a school in Kodaikanal and has been the principal of two schools. Apart from awards for her writing, she has also received the Peter Scott Award for Conservation.
Zai lives in Chennai with her son Nikhil, who is the curator of the Croc Bank.