Mervyn Hugh Cowie

Background

Mr. Cowie was born in Nairobi Area, Kenya, on April 13, 1909. He was a son of a British, one-time big-game hunter who decided to remain in Kenya after a visit on a hunting expedition. As a result, Mr. Cowie was raised in Africa, lived in a thatched-roof mud dwelling, and had many encounters with hyenas, elephants, and lions. He had one brother.

Education

He was first educated in Nairobi, then moved to England to study at Brighton College and the University of Oxford. He qualified as a chartered accountant and returned to Kenya in 1932.

Career

Although he studied to be an accountant, Mervyn Cowie followed his heart and instead worked to establish a park system in Kenya, Africa, that has, since its inception, preserved much of the region’s wildlife.

After his returning to Kenya, he was concerned to see that its wildlife areas had diminished due to expansion of the cattle industry. Mervyn Cowie championed the call to preserve the wild lands, eventually establishing a park system in 1946. He served as the director of the Royal National Parks of Kenya until 1966, continuing to work for and support the cause throughout the remainder of his life. Mr. Cowie’s popularity with the Kenyan people is evidenced by the fact that he continued to serve as parks director after the nation gained its independence from Britain in 1963. He was named commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1961, and is credited with inspiring other park systems in Eastern Africa.

A trustee of the East African Wildlife Society, he also was a consultant to the World Wildlife Fund. Mervyn Cowie returned to England in retirement in 1979. Mr. Cowie served as editor of the Royal National Parks of Kenya Annual Reports.

Achievements

• Mr. Cowie was renowned for his numerous books. His major writings include Fly, Vulture, The African Lion, and the autobiography I Walk with Lions: The Story of Africa's Great Animal Preserves.

Works

More photos

• book

  • I Walk With Lions

    (Story of Africa's Great Animal Preserves, the Royal Natio...)

  • I Walk With Lions: The Story Of Africa's Great Animal Preserves, The Royal National Parks Of Kenya, As Told By Their First Director

    (Book by Cowie, Mervyn)

  • The African Lion
  • Fly, Vulture
  • Meine Freunde die Löwen.

Connections

Mr. Cowie married Molly Beaty in 1934. They had two sons and one daughter. Beaty died in 1956. He married Valori Hare Duke in 1957. They had one son and one daughter.

Wife:

Molly Beaty

Wife:

Valori Hare Duke

References

• Mervyn Hugh Cowie | British wildlife conservationist | Britannica.com Mervyn Hugh Cowie: Mervyn Hugh Cowie, British wildlife conservationist who was the founder and, for 20 years, director of Kenya’s Royal National Parks; he also assisted in the development of
• Obituary:Mervyn Cowie | The Independent The great task of Mervyn Cowie's life was the pioneering of wildlife protection and the development of tourism throughout East Africa.
• Cowie, Mervyn Hugh (1909–1996), conservationist | Oxford Dictionary of National Biography