Jim Corbett [25 July 1875 – 19 April 1955] was an Indian but born as Irish hunter, conservationist & naturalist, famous for his writings on the hunting of leopards & man-eating tigers. The Corbett National Park in India is named in his memory. He was tall (6'1"), brave & endowed with very keen senses. He would often stalk to within twenty feet of the man-eaters, & at great risk to himself, in order to save at least one human life. He preferred to hunt alone & on foot when pursuing dangerous game.
Edward James "Jim" Corbett was born of Irish ancestry in the town of Nainital in the Kumaon foothills of the Himalayas. Jim was the eighth child of Christopher & Mary Jane Corbett. His parents had moved to Nainital in 1862, after Christopher Corbett had been appointed postmaster of the town. Jim studied at Oak Openings School (later renamed Philander Smith College), St Joseph's College & the Diocese Boys School (later renamed Sherwood College) in Nainital, but left the school at age seventeen before completing high school. Soon thereafter, he joined the Bengal & North Western Railway, initially working as a fuel inspector at Manakpur in the Punjab, & subsequently as a contractor for the transshipment of goods across the Ganges at Mokama Ghat in Bihar
As his admiration for tigers & leopards grew, he resolved never to shoot them unless they turned man-eater or posed a threat to cattle. Between 1907 & 1938, Corbett tracked & killed at least a dozen man-eaters. It is estimated that the combined total of men, women & children these twelve animals had killed was in excess of 1,500. His very first success, the Champawat Tiger in Champawat, alone was responsible for 436 documented deaths. He also shot the Panar Leopard, which allegedly killed 400 after being injured by a poacher & thus being rendered unable to hunt its normal prey.