Listen: Birder, Swindler, Soldier, Spy – Colonel Meinertzhagen’s Ornithology Fraud

Richard Meinertzhagen with a Kori bustard in Nairobi, 1915. Credit: Wikimedia Commons
Chairman of the British ornithologist club, Richard Meinertzhagen was once the most eminent authority on South Asian birds. In 1954, his collection of over 25,000 bird skins was even acquired by the prestigious Natural History Museum in Britain. Thirty years after his death, it was found that he had stolen birds and passed them off as his own. A lot of his data was also found to be was false. Samanth and Padmaparna speak to Pamela Rasmussen in this fascinating new crime-thriller-science-detective-mystery.
This is the latest episode of The Intersection, a fortnightly podcast on Audiomatic. For more such podcasts visit audiomatic.in.
This article went live on March eighth, two thousand sixteen, at forty-one minutes past two in the afternoon.The Wire is now on WhatsApp. Follow our channel for sharp analysis and opinions on the latest developments.





