A Service Hero Honored in India

This September, a wide coalition of biologists and decision-makers in India paid tribute to US Fish & Wildlife Service employee Dave Ferguson, through a series of programs, workshops, and special ceremonies held in his honor.

These Indian leaders were paying tribute to the accomplishments of Mr. Ferguson, who over the last quarter-century, has built a much-praised wildlife conservation program in the region and formed a long-lasting bilateral partnership which ultimately led to the creation of the Service’s Branch of Near East, Asia and Africa within the Division of International Conservation.

Mr. Ferguson, who is retiring from the Service this October, started working for the U.S. government in 1976 as a member of the Service’s newly formed ‘International Affairs Staff.' At this time, he was charged with developing wildlife conservation programs with Egypt, Pakistan and India using U.S.-owned foreign currencies. Under Mr. Ferguson’s leadership, the program eventually grew to include implementation of the Multinational Species Conservation Funds for elephants, tigers, rhinos and great apes, and expanded with conservation programs in Africa and other range countries in South and East Asia.

The events honoring Mr. Ferguson coincided with a business trip he took to India to participate in a number of key conservation summits and meetings on pressing wildlife conservation issues, ranging from a workshop on primates in Jodhpur, to a review of activities carried out by the Bombay Natural History Society in Mumbai under Mr. Ferguson’s assistance. Other events included a two-day meeting on wetlands in Delhi which was organized by World Wide Fund for Nature, a workshop on grassland ecology organized by the Rajasthan Forest Department with the support of the Tourism and Wildlife Society of India, and a visit to the Keoladeo Ghana National Park near Bharatpur, to attend another ceremony in his honor. Finally, Mr. Ferguson visited the Project Tiger sanctuary at Ranthambhore and then went southward to a welcoming reception at the Salim Ali Centre for Ornithology and Natural History in Coimbatore, and the Institute for Restoration of Natural Environment in Nagercoil, India.

During his Service career and in his role as Branch Chief of Near East Asia and Africa, Mr. Ferguson led numerous initiatives to help to conserve India's grasslands, wetlands, forests and wildlife. Among his accomplishments being celebrated by India’s conservation leaders are: Helping to establish the Wildlife Institute of India as one of the foremost wildlife institutes in the region; Providing vital support for Bombay Natural History Society projects on wildlife conservation; Leading the Service participation in the global crusade to save the Great Indian Bustard; Supporting efforts to restore the central flock of the endangered Siberian cranes, which included the introduction of artificially hatched chicks in a protected area and satellite tracking of wild cranes; Assisting in a bar-headed goose project in 2000, that shed valuable light into the ecology of some 17,000 geese visiting India; and, Supporting a study initiated in the early nineties, that was the first to detect the shocking crash of vulture populations on the sub-continent.

Our Indian colleagues honored Mr. Ferguson’s achievements with eight events over 20 days. As his friend and fellow-conservationist, Harsh Vardhan, said at one of the many events honoring Mr. Ferguson’s work, "Dave stands out as the Guardian Soul of India's wildlife needs.” Mr. Ferguson’s lasting legacy celebrated in India is the spirit of sharing and cooperation forged into a strong program partnership program between India and the United States – one of the Service’s most successful international programs to date.