Scott, Sir Peter Markham

born Sept. 14, 1909, London, Eng.

died Aug. 29, 1989, Bristol

British conservationist and artist.

Son of Robert Falcon Scott, he graduated from Cambridge University and soon gained renown as a wildlife painter. In 1946 he founded the Severn Wildfowl Trust (later renamed the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust). Through a captive breeding program at his sanctuary, he saved the nene from extinction in the 1950s. In 1961 he founded the World Wildlife Fund (World Wide Fund for Nature). As a member of the Species Survival Commission of the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (1962–81), he created the Red Data Book (see endangered species). He was knighted in 1973.

* * *

▪ British naturalist

born September 14, 1909, London, England

died August 29, 1989, Bristol

      British conservationist (conservation) and artist. He founded the Severn Wildfowl Trust (1946; renamed the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust (Wildfowl Trust, The)) and helped establish the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) (1961; renamed the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF)).

      Scott, who was the son of Antarctic explorer Robert Falcon Scott (Scott, Robert Falcon), graduated from Trinity College, Cambridge (1931), and studied art at the Munich State Academy in Germany and at the Royal Academy in London. In the 1930s he became known as a painter of wildlife, particularly birds, and as an accomplished single-handed yachtsman, winning the Prince of Wales Cup three times and a bronze medal at the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin.

      After distinguished service in the Royal Navy during World War II, Scott founded the Slimbridge Refuge (1946), a waterfowl sanctuary on the River Severn in Gloucestershire, where through a captive breeding program he saved the Hawaiian goose, or nene, from extinction in the 1950s. Scott guided the World Wildlife Fund by holding a number of leadership positions over the years. As a member of the Species Survival Commission of the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (1962–81), he created the Red Data books, the group's official lists of endangered species. He also led expeditions to such places as Antarctica and the Galapagos Islands, wrote 18 and illustrated 20 travel and wildlife books, and promoted conservation issues on the British television series Look and Survival. Scott was knighted (1973) and made a Companion of Honour (1987).

* * *