Tony Whitten obituary
Tony Whitten, who has died aged 64 in a cycling accident, was an inspirational figure in global conservation circles thanks to his collaboration with religious groups and his passionate advocacy for some of the world's least-known creatures. Like the snails, beetles and mites that he championed, Whitten was never a household name, but his influence as a mentor and explorer - particularly in the caves and rocky environments of Asia - was such that 11 species have been named after him. He was also instrumental in the first fatwa declared against the illegal wildlife trade.
At the time of his death, he was senior adviser at Flora & Fauna International, one of the world's oldest conservation organisations, and had recently established a specialist group on karst habitats - the crags, caves, sinkholes and disappearing streams formed by the dissolution of limestone and other soluble rocks - for the International Union for Conservation of Nature.
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