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Samad Kottur

Dr.Samad Kottur aka K.S.Abdul Samad (born 1  June 1966) is an educationist, wildlife researcher and freelance writer. He hails from a small town Kotturu in Kudligi taluk of Ballari district  in Karnataka, India. He is considered as the pioneer of conservation of wildlife habitat in Ballar i district and surrounding areas.

Early Life:
He was born in Hosa Kodihalli village near Kotturu in Kudligi taluk in an agrarian family. He was living with his grand parents working as a child labour and grazing buffaloes. At the age of 5 he fell from buffaloes back and twisted his left arm. Hence his grand parents did not send him to school in time. After two years his mother got him admitted to a primary school in Kottur when he was above 7 years age. While studying in primary school, he worked as child labour in different fields and met his educational expenses himself.

Education
Samad Kottur went to the local primary and high school. Pursued 11 standard with Science combination in Kottureshwara College, Kottur. He continued his education in the same college by joining for Bachelor of Science (B.Sc) with Chemistry, Botany and Zoology subjects and stood first to the college with best performance. He completed his B.Sc (CBZ) in 1987.

Later on joined Government College of Education, Chitradurga for his Bachelor of Education (B.Ed). Though he began his career as a teacher, his thirst for education has not quenched. Hence he completed Master of Arts (M.A) in English from Karnataka university Dharwad, M.A (Population studies) from Annamalai University, Chidambaram, Tamil Nadu, Post Graduate Diploma in Mass Communication and Journalism (PGDMCJ) from Karnataka State Open University (KSOU).

He completed post graduation in Master of Science (Environment Science) with 6th Rank from Kuvempu University, Shankaraghatta, Shimoga. Later he completed his Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D) on 'Studies of feeding ecology of Indian Sloth Bear Melursus ursinus Shaw, 1973 and exploring its conservation strategy in Bellary district, Karnataka' in 2019 under the guidance of Prof.B.B.Hosetti.