Prince of Cats

by Billy Arjan Singh

The leopard is one of the most beautiful Great Cats in creation, and it is now endangered in many countries. This fact led Arjan Singh, the celebrated Indian wildlife expert to attempt a daring rear a leopard cub in his house and return it to the jungle. The story of how Arjan
Singh taught Prince and then the twins Juliette, and Harriet the ways of the forest is enthralling from start to finish. Sharing his whole life with them, building then machans (tree platforms), walking the jungle tracks in their company, encouraging them to hunt, teaching them to disembowel their
kills, he came to know the ways and character of the leopard as no man has before. His first great success came when Prince at last took to the jungle, fully rehabilitated.
Not only did the author succeed in returning a hand-reared predator to the forest, he has debunked the myth that leopards are treacherous and unpredictable. On the contrary, he demonstrates the 'essential tranquility' of the leopard's temperament, and shows that it is only the animal's intelligence,
combined with its capacity for effective retaliation when cornered which has given it a bad name.

Genres: Nonfiction

192 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1987

About the author

Kunwar "Billy" Arjan Singh was an Indian hunter turned conservationist and author. He was the first who tried to reintroduce tigers and leopards from captivity into the wild.

Arjan Singh was widely honoured for his contributions to conservation. He received one of India's highest civilian national awards, the Padma Shri, in 1995. In 1996, he was awarded the World Wildlife Gold Medal, and obtained the Order of the Golden Ark in 1997. In 2004, Arjan Singh received the Getty Award from the World Wildlife Fund, for his innovative contribution to conservation and for creating public awareness. In 2006 he recieved two further awards, and then
the Lifetime Award for Tiger Conservation.

He wrote 9 autobiographical wildlife books about his experiences.