Ralph Camroux Morris

Colonel Randolph "Ralph" Camroux Morris (3 March 1895 – 19 December 1977, London) was a coffee planter, British Army officer, and hunter-naturalist who was born in India. A pioneer of wildlife conservation in India, a member of the Bombay Natural History Society, he also represented South Indian Europeans in the Indian parliament after 1947. Along with Jim Corbett and Hasan Abid Jafry, he organized an all-India conference for the preservation of wildlife in 1936. Morris was among the first to make use of electric fences to protect crops from elephants and other wildlife in India. He was a member of the first Indian Wildlife Board which made efforts to establish laws to conserve wildlife in post-Independence India.

Biography

Ralph was born in Attikan estate in the Biligirirangan Hills, the son of Mabel Camroux and Randolph Hayton Morris. Morris Sr. was the son of an Oxford parson who left home at the age of 18 to work on a ship. He landed in India in 1877 at a time of famine and worked at various estates before starting the first coffee plantation in the Biligirirangans, an area he identified while out hunting. Ralph was sent to study in England at Blue Coat School and at Blundell's in Devon before returning to join his father at the estate. In 1895, his father was gored by a wounded gaur while out hunting. He was taken to Mysore and survived but died in 1918 from pneumonia in the one lung that remained. Ralph became a member of the Bombay Natural History Society in 1919, the same year in which he married Heather, daughter of another BNHS member Angus M. Kinloch, who lived in Kotagiri in the Nilgiris. In 1935, Ralph joined the Vernay-Hopwood expedition, sponsored by Arthur S. Vernay, to the Upper Chindwin of Burma. Another expedition was made into the Malay jungles in the same year in search of the Javan Rhinoceros. He was a President of the United Planters' Association of South India (UPASI) for one and half years in 1937-38 before joining as a volunteer officer in the war. He served in the Middle East and North Africa, seeing action at the Siege of Tobruk. He returned after the war to work at his estate and extended it to ''Honnametti''. After Independence, he represented the South Indian Europeans in the Legislative Assembly. In 1955 he sold off his estate to the Birla family and settled in the UK.

He documented the wildlife of the region in the Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society. His estate was visited by numerous people including Leslie Coleman, Victor Brooke, Arthur S. Vernay, John Faunthorpe, Kenneth Anderson, the ornithologist Salim Ali, as well as the Maharaja of Mysore.
In 1933, a fellow sportsman and friend Major Leonard Mourant Handley wrote a book called "Hunter's Moon" with a chapter on "The Great Blue Hills of Ranga" which was reviewed by Morris (under his initials "R.C.M.") in the ''Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society'' who stated that "there should surely be some limit to the inaccuracies which find their way into modern books, which purport to set forth observations of interest to natural scientists and Shikaris." Morris found 38 inaccuracies and Handley filed a case of libel in Middlesex and was awarded a damage of 3000 pounds in 1937. Morris never attended the trial and it was suggested the friction between the two former friends arose from differences between Mrs Morris and Mrs Handley.The secretary of the Bombay Natural History Society noted in volume 51 of the journal:

In 1994, one of Ralph's three daughters Monica Jackson, a mountaineer and anthropologist, reflected on her roots in a book called ''Going Back''.

Writings

Morris contributed notes mainly to the journal of the Bombay Natural History Society. He also served as an editor and contributor to the short-lived “Indian Wild Life” magazine published by the ‘All India Conference for the Preservation of Wild Life’ from 1936 to 1939, ceasing due to the outbreak of World War II.
* 1922
Panthers and artificial light
J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 28(3):789.
* 1924
Indian wild dogs attacking a bear.
J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 30(1):218-219.
* 1925
Wild dogs and jungle tragedies.
J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 30(3):691-693.
* 1925
"Wild animals of Central India".
J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 30(3):694-696.
* 1926
Record of a death from the bite of a hamadryad or king cobra (Naia hanna).
J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 31(1):226.
* 1926
A wonderful sight.
J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 31(2):513-514.
* 1926
An elephant shoot on the Baragur Hills (Coimbatore District).
J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 31(3):720-725.
* 1927
The sense of smell in Indian Felidae.
J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 33(3):695.
* 1929
Are there more than one species of panther in India?
J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 33(3):697-698.
* 1929
Proportion of the sexes in tigers.
J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 33(4):972.
* 1929
Wounded panther returning to "kill".
J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 33(4):977-978.
* 1930
Encounters with elephants on the Biligirirangana Hills.
J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 34(1):237-242.
* 1930
Elephant tusk wedged in a tree.
J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 34(1):242.
* 1930
Partial disappearance of the wild pig (''Sus cristatus'').
J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 34(1):245-246.
* 1930
An experience with a tigress.
J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 34(2):556-557.
* 1930
Tigers eating their young.
J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 34(2):557.
* 1930
Hyaenas killing cattle tied up as bait.
J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 34(2):561.
* 1930
Panther climbing up to a machan.
J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 34(3):797.
* 1930
Sounds made by porcupines.
J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 34(3):799-800.
* 1930
Observations on the Indian Elephant.
J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 34(3):800-801.
* 1930
On distinguishing between males and females and other controversial matters pertaining to the gaur (''Bibos gaurus'').
J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 34(3):801-802.
* 1930
Heart shot in game.
J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 34(3):804-805.
* 1931
The Indian wild dog (''Cuon dukhunensis'').
J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 34(4):1054-1055.
* 1932
Use of artificial light in panther shooting.
J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 35(4):887-888.
* 1932
Vitality of bison mauled by a tiger.
J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 35(4):888-889.
* 1932
Unerupted tusks of elephants.
J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 35(4):889-891.
* 1932
Game preserves and flashlight photography.
J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 35(4):891.
* 1932
Panther feeding on tiger `kills’.
J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 36(3):742.
* 1933
Wild dogs killing a panther.
J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 36(3):744.
* 1933
Wild dogs driving a panther from its `kill’.
J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 36(3):744-745.
* 1933
A newly born bison calf.
J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 36(3):746.
* 1933
Game preserves and flashlight.
J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 36(3):746-748.
* 1933
Spirited old bull bison (''Bibos gaurus'').
J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 36(4):984-985.
* 1933
The colour of `White Bison’ (''Bibos gaurus''): (Comment).
J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 36(4):985-986.
* 1934
Bison sanatorium.
J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 37(2):483.
* 1934
White bison.
J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 37(2):483-484.
* 1934
Growth and shedding of antlers in sambar (Rusa unicolor) and Cheetal (Axis axis) in South India.
J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 37: (2):484.
* 1934
A tailless tiger.
J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 37(3):721.
* 1934
Death of an elephant (''Elephas maximus'' Linn.) while calfing.
J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 37(3):722.
* 1934
Death of 14 elephants (''Elephas maximus'' Linn.) by food poisoning.
J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 37(3): 722-723.
* 1935
Tigers killing solitary bull bison (''Bibos gaurus'').
J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 38(1):179.
* 1935
Vultures feeding at night.
J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 38(1):190.
* 1936
Tigers versus bison.
J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 38(3):609.
* 1936
Further records of the distribution of the cheetah (''Acinonyx jubatus'' Erxl.) in South India.
J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 38(3):610.
* 1936
The birth of an elephant calf.
J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 38:613-614.
* 1936
The formation and absence of tusks in elephants.
J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc .38(3):615-617.
* 1936
Early development of antlers by sambhur in the Biligirirangana Hills, South India.
J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 38(3):619.
* 1936
The Vernay-Hopwood Upper Chindwin Expedition.
J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 38:647-671.
* 1936
Melanism in wild dogs.
J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 38(4):813.
* 1936
Bison and panther.
J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 38(4):818.
* 1936
Season of horn development in sambhur.
J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc.38(4):819-820.
* 1937
Peculiar behaviour of an elephant.
J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 39(1):164-165.
* 1937
White bison.
J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 39(1):165.
* 1937
Ravages by tiger and incidence of man-eaters in North Coimbatore between 1860-1880.
J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 39(2):382-385.
* 1937
The result of excess poison for wild dogs.
J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 39(2):388.
* 1937
A very large sambar stag.
J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 39(2):390.
* 1937
Gaur bulls attacking a wounded bull.
J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 39(2):391.
* 1937
Two wary tigers and two others.
J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 39(3):610-614.
* 1937
Mange on wild dogs.
J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 39(3):615-616.
* 1937
Solitary bull bison (''Bibos gaurus'' H. Sm.).
J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 39(3):617.
* 1937
Colouration of the bison's snout and tongue.
J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 39(3):618.
* 1937
Close seasons for big game-are they beneficial.
J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 39(4):621.
* 1938
Measurements of tigers.
J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 40:114-115.
* 1938
Disappearance of jackals.
J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 40:117.
* 1938
On whistling of bison.
J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 40:117.
* 1938
Behaviour of gaur or Indian bison.
J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 40:325.
* 1938
Measurements of tiger, panther, bison and sambhur.
J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 40(3):555.
* 1938
`Stamping grounds’ and `sore neck’ in sambhur.
J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 40(3):560-561.
* 1938
A natural history tale.
J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 40(3):581.
* 1939
On the occurrence of the Banded Crake (Rallus eurizonoides amuroptera) and the Malabar Woodpecker (Macropicus javensis hodgsoni) in the Billigirirangan Hills, S. India.
J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 40(4):763.
* 1941
An appeal: Society for the preservation of the fauna of the empire.
J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 42(3):653.
* 1941
Unusual behaviour of panthers and tigers.
J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 42(3):655-656.
* 1941
Elephants lying down.
J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 42(3):658.
* 1941
Bed bugs and swifts.
J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 42(3):664-665.
* 1942
Widespread rabies among wild dogs on the Biligirirangana Hills (S. India).
J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 43(1):100.
* 1943
Jackals attacking deer in Ceylon.
J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 44(3):585.
* 1946
Rarity of man-eating tigers in South India.
J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 46(1):177-178.
* 1946
Death of a panther on a tiger's kill.
J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 46(1):179-180.
* 1947
“Record elephant”.
J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 46(3):541.
* 1947
Death of six elephants.
J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 46(3):541-542
* 1947
Destruction of cattle by tiger en masse.
J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 46(4):714.
* 1947
Weight of bull bison.
J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 47(1):153.
* 1952
Abnormal clavicle bones in Tigers.
J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 47(4):715.
* 1950
Tiger eating panther.
J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 48(4):802.
* 1950
Charge by unwounded bison.
J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 48(4):803-804.
* 1951
Protecting food crops from wild animals.
J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 49(4):783.
* 1951
Jeep versus elephant.
J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 49(4):783-784.
* 1952
Riotous behaviour of mating bears (Melursus ursinus).
J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 51(1):265-266.
* 1952
Case of unwounded gaur or Indian bison (Bibos gaurus) charging.
J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 51(1):266.
* 1952
Our vanishing wildlife.
J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 51(1):268-269.
* 1953
Domestic poultry diseases now endemic in jungle.
J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 51(3):747-748.
* with Salim Ali (1956)
Game preservation in Kashmir: Report and recommendation of the Bombay Natural History Society, s delegation October 1952.
J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 53(2):229-233.
* 1954
An elephant's stride.
J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 50(3&4):933.
* 1956
Tusks of Indian Elephants.
J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 54(2):460.
* 1958
Porcupines and trees of ''Vernonia'' sp.
J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 55(1):155-156.
* 1958
Rabbits and Myxomatosis in the UK.
J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 55(1):156.
* 1958
Flowering of ''Strobilanthes''.
J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 55(1):185.
* 1958
Note on the use of bamboo gun rocket for scaring wild animals out of cultivation.
J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 55(2):344-345.
* 1958
Rat snake `mating’.
J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 55(2):366.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Morris, Ralph Camroux
1895 births
1977 deaths
Scottish soldiers
Indian naturalists
20th-century naturalists
Members of the Bombay Natural History Society
British people in colonial India