African Wildlife & Environment Issue 77 FINAL ISSUE

ECO HERO

John was a life scientific fellow of the Zoological Society of London, a life fellow of the Institute of Biology, London, a fellow of the Royal Society of South Africa and a life member of the Zoological Society of South Africa and theWildlife Management Association of South Africa. His distinction in research was recognised when he was awarded the Gold Medal of the Zoological Society of South Africa, the Senior Captain Scott Medal of the Biological Society of South Africa and the Merit Award of the South African Association for the Advancement of Science. Yet the award that he cherished above all was that of a DSc ( Honoris Causa ) by the University of the Witwatersrand just a few months before his death. The citation noted that: ‘no one has done more to bring zoology to the attention of the South African community, whether it be game farmers, agricultural extension officers, or the visitor to a national park, or to bring South African mammalogy to the attention of the international research community’. Skinner was unstintingly supported in his endeavours by his wife Patsy, whose death sadly preceded his by 20 years. He left behind a daughter Lilla, sons Charles and Donal, and their families. John has left a lasting legacy of a scientific life devoted to mentorship and accomplishment at the highest level. And for John, as said of British architect Sir Christopher Wren it should be said: simonumentum require, circumspice (if you require a monument, look around you). The edited edition of this article has included some comments from the published obituary by Rudi van Aarde and Robert Millar in: South African Journal of Wildlife Research 41(2): 236– 238 (October 2011). These are gratefully acknowledged. John's son, Dr Donal Skinner, now at Ohio University, USA, kindly read through the article, corrected some minor errors, and supplied the two images of his father. Author affiliation: Jan Nel Associate Professor (retired) of the Universities of Pretoria and Stellenbosch The Eco-Heroes series is edited by Dr Lynn Hurry. Suggestions for future articles are welcome and may be sent to lynn@ecology.co.za

titled Mammals of the Southern African Subregion , a publication which after three editions is still regarded as the standard reference work on this group. It was first published by Rae Smithers back in 1983, and through an opportunity created by John, thereafter twice revised, first by him and Rae, and thereafter by him and Chris Chimimba.

John was chairman of the Hyena Specialist Group of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) for ten years, a taxonomic group close to his heart on account of his own research on it. He was awarded the Gold Medal of the Zoological Society of Southern Africa, the Senior Captain Scott medal of the Biological Society of Southern Africa, the merit award of the South African Association for the Advancement of Science, and voted one of the four outstanding young South Africans in 1972 by the Junior Chamber of Commerce. John Skinner with a Soay sheep in Haywards Heath, Sussex, England, 1990. The Soay sheep is a breed of domestic sheep descended from a population of feral sheep on the 100-hectare island of Soay in the St Kilda Archipelago, about 65 kilometres from the Western Isles of Scotland Photograph courtesy Dr Donal Skinner

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