K. M. Chinnappa was born and raised in a village on the edge on Nagarahole. He was forced to seek a job without getting a chance to acquire a college degree. He got a job in the forest department in the 60s and soon he was posted in Nagarahole. He was the Range Forest Officer of Nagarahole for over two decades and was single-handedly responsible for making it one of the finest national Parks of India. His incredible courage in the face of real physical danger and extraordinary knowledge of natural history are legendary. At a personal level, his purity, integrity and Spartan lifestyle remind us of a true yogi. His understanding of the behaviour of the Asian elephant is better than even formally trained elephant ecologists.