Clive Elliott

Sir Clive Christopher Hugh Elliott, 4.º baronet (12 de agosto de 1945 - 18 de abril de 2018) fue un ornitólogo y funcionario público británico. ^{[ 1 ] [ 2 ]}

Elliott nació en Moshi , Territorio de Tanganyika, el 12 de agosto de 1945. Su padre, Sir Hugh Elliott , estaba destinado allí como funcionario público en la administración colonial. Durante la infancia de Clive, de 1951 a 1953, acompañó a sus padres a Tristan da Cunha , donde su padre fue destinado como primer administrador. La vida silvestre y la abundancia de aves marinas en la isla, junto con la presencia de los eminentes ornitólogos Bunty y Berthus Rowan, ^{[ 3 ]} y de su propio padre ornitólogo, le causaron una profunda impresión en este período formativo de su vida. Posteriormente, asistió a la Dragon School , Oxford , regresando con sus padres a Dar es Salaam , Tanganyika, durante las vacaciones. Su familiaridad con el suajili, adquirida en Tanganyika antes de su transición en 1961 al estado independiente de Tanzania , resultaría invaluable más adelante en su trabajo en África. Después de la Dragon School, continuó su educación en Bryanston . Posteriormente, ingresó en el University College de Oxford , donde estudió zoología, especializándose en ornitología. Tras obtener su licenciatura, continuó sus estudios ornitológicos en el Instituto FitzPatrick de la Universidad de Ciudad del Cabo , investigando el tejedor del Cabo (Ploceus capensis) . Se doctoró en Zoología en 1973.

In 1975 he joined the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) to work in Chad as a research scientist with the mission to investigate the control of the migratory passerine pest, the Red-billed Quelea, Quelea quelea.^[4] This species is endemic throughout semi-arid zones of sub-Saharan Africa and inflicts widespread damage to cereal crops. Much of his work was accordingly devoted to field trips over many parts of northern and western Africa.

In 1978, with the outbreak of civil war in Chad, Clive and his wife Marie-Thérèse Rüttiman moved to Arusha, Tanzania, where he was appointed to a new position with the FAO, with the mandate to continue working on Quelea throughout eastern Africa. In 1986 he was appointed Project manager of the Bird Control Unit at the FAO and he and his family moved to Nairobi.

In 1989 he was appointed to the Agricultural Operations Division of the FAO in Rome, and in 1995, promoted to the position of Senior Officer, Migratory Pests Plant Protection Service. Although this post was based in Rome, it involved numerous field trips and overseeing projects intended to control migratory pests such as the locust,^[5]armyworm, and Quelea. He authored and co-authored several publications on pest control in Africa,^[6] including a study based on satellite sensing data.^[7]

In 2006 Clive retired to Oxfordshire, where he continued to undertake ornithological projects for the FAO and remained active as a consultant^[8][9] and a recognized authority on African bird pests.^[10] He was President of the Oxford Ornithology Society,^[11] and member of the committee of the Tristan da Cunha Association.^[12]

As a competitive tennis player, he was also a member of the Committee of the North Oxford Tennis Club. While he was still working in Chad, he had won the men's singles tennis championship there in 1978. At the outbreak of the civil war, as reigning champion, he brought the trophy for safekeeping back to his home in England. Once, after a couple of days’ absence to undergo a series of minor skin operations, he returned to his FAO office in Rome with a row of stitches on his head, announcing to his appalled staff that he had just undergone major brain surgery.^[13]

• Interview with Salaamedia [1]