George Schaller

Early life

Schaller was born in Berlin, Germany. He received his Bachelor of Biological Science degree from the University of Alaska in 1955, and went on to the University of Wisconsin–Madison to obtain his PhD in 1962. From 1962 to 1963, he was a fellow at the Behavioral Sciences department of Stanford University. From 1963 to 1966, Schaller served as research associate for the Johns Hopkins University pathobiology department, and from 1966 to 1972, served as the Rockefeller University's and New York Zoological Society's research associate in research and animal behavior as part of the Institute for Research in Animal Behavior. From 1972 to 1979, he served as coordinator of the Center for Field Biology and Conservation, which replaced the IRAB. He then served as director of the New York Zoological Society's International Conservation Program from 1979 to 1988.

Mountain gorilla research

In 1959, when Schaller was 26, he traveled to Central Africa to study and live with the mountain gorillas (Gorilla beringei beringei) of the Virunga Volcanoes. Little was known about the life of gorillas in the wild until the publication of The Mountain Gorilla: Ecology and Behavior in 1963, that first conveyed to the general public just how profoundly intelligent and gentle gorillas really are, contrary to then-common beliefs. Schaller also, in 1964, recounted this epic two-year study in The Year of the Gorilla, which also provides a broader historical perspective on the efforts to save one of humankind's nearest relatives from the brink of extinction.

Conservation career In 1963-1964, Schaller and his wife were in Kanha National Park, India where they studied tigers. In 1966, Schaller and his wife traveled to Tanzania to live in the Serengeti, and Schaller conducted one of the first studies of social behavior and movement of Africa's big cats.

In his 1972 work The Tree Where Man Was Born, author Peter Matthiessen described Schaller as "single-minded, not easy to know". Matthiessen went on to say Schaller was "a stern pragmatist" who "takes a hard-eyed look at almost everything", "lean and intent", and in 1978's The Snow Leopard Matthiessen wrote that by that time, some considered Schaller the world's finest field biologist.

In the fall of 1973, Schaller went to the remote Himalayan region of Dolpo, an area of Nepal occupied by people of the Tibetan culture and ethnicity. Schaller is referred to throughout the book as "GS".

In the late 1970s, Schaller spent time in Brazil studying the jaguar, capybara, "alligator" (caiman), and other animals of the region.

In 1994, Schaller and Dr. Alan Rabinowitz were the first scientists to uncover the rare saola, a forest-dwelling bovine in Laos. Later that year, Schaller rediscovered the Vietnamese warty pig, once thought extinct. In 1996, he located a herd of Tibetan red deer, also thought extinct. Most significantly, the wild yak population, which was estimated at only 13 individuals, had grown to over 187. Working with Tibetan authorities, and the Liz Claiborne and Art Ortenberg Foundation, Schaller helped protect the breeding and calving grounds of the chiru in the Kunlun mountains of Xinjiang Province. Due in part to Schaller's work, over 20 parks or preserves worldwide have been established, including Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR), the Shey-Phoksundo National Park in Nepal, and the Changtang Nature Reserve, one of the world's most significant wildlife refuges. At over ,

Bigfoot research Schaller is one of a few prominent scientists who argue that Bigfoot reports are worthy of serious study. A 2003 Los Angeles Times story described Schaller as a "Bigfoot skeptic", but he also expressed disapproval for other scientists who do not examine evidence, yet "write [Bigfoot] off as a hoax or myth. I don't think that's fair." In a 2003 Denver Post article Schaller said that he is troubled that no Bigfoot remains have ever been uncovered, and no feces samples have been found to allow DNA testing. Schaller notes: "There have been so many sightings over the years, even if you throw out 95 percent of them, there ought to be some explanation for the rest. I think a hard-eyed look is absolutely essential".

Publications

Schaller has written more than fifteen books on African and Asian mammals, including Serengeti Lion: A Study of Predator–Prey Relations, The Last Panda, and Tibet's Hidden Wilderness, Tibet the Wild, based on his own studies, and supported by long-term observations of species in their natural habitats. Schaller has also written hundreds of magazine articles, and dozens of books and scientific articles about tigers, jaguars, cheetahs and leopards, as well as wild sheep and goats, rhinoceroses, and flamingos. Over more than five decades, Schaller's field research has helped shape wildlife protection efforts around the world. and the World Wildlife Fund's Gold Medal for: "Contributions to the understanding and conservation of endangered species". and he was the first recipient of the Wildlife Conservation Society's Beebe Fellowship. In 1988, Schaller received the Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement. In September 2008, he received the Indianapolis Prize for his work in animal conservation.

In 2017, a newly discovered species of scorpion was named as Liocheles schalleri in his honor.

Personal life

His wife Kay majored in Anthropology at the University of Alaska in Fairbanks, where she and Schaller met. They married in 1957 and Kay assisted in fieldwork and edited and typed his manuscripts for nearly seven decades. Kay Schaller passed on March 7, 2023 at the age of 93.

The couple had two sons.