T. F. Bourdillon

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Thomas Fulton Bourdillon was Conservator of Forests in the princely state of Travancore.

In 1908 he authored the first book on the trees of the region The Forest Trees of Travancore. He also wrote about bird life to Allan Octavian Hume and contributed many articles on forestry to the Indian Forester. He worked in close association with other naturalists of his time including R. H. Beddome and Harold S. Ferguson.

Today there exists in Arienkavu on the northern side of Shendurney valley a place called Bourdillon's Plot which was the location of the first plot where teak was planted using stumps in 1891. This technique was developed to grow teak sustainably for the needs of the navy. This attempt to grow teak for the needs of the English navy was started by Mr. H. V. Conolly, the then Collector of Malabar.

The subspecies Great Eared-nightjar Eurostopodus macrotis bourdilloni and the Blackbird Turdus merula bourdilloni are named after him.