From ANIMAL PEOPLE, May 2010:
Gopal Tanti, 56, died on May 11, 2010 after a six-year
struggle with a neurological disorder that ended his career as “the
guru of tranquilization,” as Tanti was memorialized by Sunderban
Tiger Reserve assistant field director Anjan Guha. “In 33
adventurous years, Gopal Tanti is believed to have tranquillized 84
tigers, a dozen elephants and several rhinos,” recalled Prithvijit
Mitra of the Times News Network. Tanti joined the Suderban Tiger
Reserve in 1977. Standard practice, pioneered by Man-Eaters of
Kumaon author proto-tiger conservationist Jim Corbett, was to kill
any tiger whose activities appeared likely to incite hostility toward
all tigers by neighbors of tiger habitat. Shankar Ghosh had
introduced the use of tranquilizer darts, to capture rogue tigers
instead of killing them, but Tanti discarded his methods and instead
emulated Corbett, who emphasized getting close enough to do the job
with a single well-placed shot. “He would walk straight into the
tiger’s den and shoot a dart from very close range,” wrote Mitra.

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE, April 2010:

Muhammad Sayyid Tantawi, 81, died of an apparent heart
attack on March 10, 2010 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. After 10 years
as Grand Mufti of Egypt, Tantawi was in 1996 named Chief Imam and
Shaikh of the al-Azhar Mosque at al-Azhar University in Cairo,
considered the leading center of religious study in Sunni Islam.
Tantawi led the funeral prayers for Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat
in 2004, but argued against indiscriminate attacks on Israelis, and
condemned suicide bombers, Saddam Hussein, and al Qaida. Tantawi
issued frequent fatwahs, or religious opinions, upholding the
rights of women, including in opposition to veiling in classrooms
and genital mutilation. At request of Egyptian Society of Animal
Friends cofounder Ahmed el-Sherbiny, Tantawi on April 24, 2008
issued a fatwa meant to reinforce observance of the intent of hallal
slaughter. “Any action incompatible with kindness to animals or
treating them any way other than with mercy at the time of slaughter
is forbidden and sinful, and is inconsistent with the kindness to
animals that Islam requires,” Tantawi wrote. “This includes
transporting animals. Transport must be done in a way that is
comfortable and ensures the animal’s safety.”
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From ANIMAL PEOPLE, March 2010:

Godofredo Stutzin, 93, died on February 11, 2010 at his
home in Chile. Born in Germany, originally surnamed Lipinski,
Stutzin fled to Chile in 1935, at age 19. Becoming an attorney,
Stutzin founded the Union of Friends & Animals in 1955, and the
National Committee for the Defense of Fauna & Flora in 1967. For
decades Stutzin served as Chilean representative to the Animal
Welfare Institute, the International Primate Protection League, and
the International Union for the Conservation of Nature. Stutzin was
perhaps best known for his 1976 effort to protect Lake Chungara,
located at the highest elevation of any lake in the world, but his
first concern was animal welfare. As well as advocating for fish in
the wild, Stutzin spoke forcefully and often against both
recreational fishing and keeping pet fish. “Stutzin almost
single-handedly created the modern environmental/animal protection
movement in South America,” recalled ANIMAL PEOPLE web producer
Patrice Greanville. “He was my friend, one of those that neither
distance nor time could diminish in affection or stature.”
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From ANIMAL PEOPLE, January/February 2010:

Billy Arjan Singh, 92, died on January 1, 2010 at his
Tiger Haven refuge, 250 kilometers from Lucknow, India. Born into
the Ahluwalia royal family of Kapurthala, Singh shot seven tigers as
a youth, but came to detest hunting as he saw tigers, leopards,
blackbuck, and other Indian “trophy” animals shot to the verge of
extinction. Founding Tiger Haven in 1959, which has never had any
relationship or resemblance to the captive tiger facility by the same
name in Tennessee, Singh created the private preserve that
eventually became Dudhwa National Park. Singh notoriously dragged
poachers to town behind his jeep and expressed unsympathetic views
about the losses of employees and visitors who brought their children
into proximity with the captive tigers and leopards he rehabilitated
for release and bred with former zoo stock, including Tara, a part
Siberian tiger he imported from England in 1976, dismissing
objections that he was “contaminating” the Indian tiger gene pool.

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE, January/February 2010:

Rodney, a one-and-a-half-year-old mule deer buck, was on
December 21, 2009 confiscated and shot by California Department of
Fish & Game wardens. Rodney was picked up on June 3, 2008 by Katie
McFadyen, 16, of Los Molinos. She gave him to neighbor Thora
Adcock after her family moved. “Wardens considered releasing Rodney
onto a refuge,” warden DeWayne Little told Dylan Darling of the
Redding Record-Searchlight, “but opted to kill him because he had
become habituated to humans during his time with Adcock and showed
aggression to people.”

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE, November/December 2009:

Joyce Kitsemble, 70, of Wisconsin Rapids, suffered a fatal
heart attack on December 1, 2009 at the Wisconsin state capitol in
Madison while waiting for Governor Jim Doyle to sign a bill
strengthening regulation of dog breeders. (See page one.)
“Kitsemble, who had past troubles breathing, arrived at the capitol
with an oxygen tank. As Doyle spoke, she appeared suddenly to
struggle for breath and the governor interrupted his remarks so she
could be taken out of the room in a wheelchair,” reported Jason
Stein of the Wisconsin State Journal. A longtime volunteer for the
South Wood County Humane Society in Wisconsin Rapids, Kitsemble had
lobbied for the new law for 10 years.

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE, November/December 2009:

Felony, 11, a black Lab employed since 2002 by the Howard
Lake Police Department in Wright County, Minnesota, escaped from
his kennel on October 30, 2009. Tammy Bren of Howard Lake found
Felony and took him to the Animal Humane Society in Buffalo,
Minnesota, the next day. The Animal Humane Society posted his photo
online, but he was not identified until after he was euthanized on
November 6, due to poor body condition and difficult disposition.

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE, October 2009:

Gayle Kegin Hoenig, 68, died on September 19, 2009 in
Aspen, Colorado, from complications of a stroke suffered in January
2009. A licensed wildlife rehabilitator since 1984, Hoenig operated
a private wildlife sanctuary at her home in Colorado Springs; did
extensive wildlife education, “especially about bats,” recalled
friend Marcia Davis; contributed articles to The Ark, published by
the Britsh-based organization Catholic Concern for Animals; and was
active in support of the Zimbabwe National SPCA and Zimbabwe Wildlife
Conservation Task Force. “Gayle devoted her life to animal welfare.
She worked tirelessly for the prevention of cruelty to animals. Her
death is a tragic and irreplaceable loss,” e-mailed Zimbabwe
Conservation Task Force chair Johnny Rodrigues.

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