Frank and John Craighead
| Frank and John Craighead | |
|---|---|
| Born |
Frank: August 14, 1916 John: August 14, 1916 Washington, D.C., U.S. |
| Died |
Frank: October 21, 2001 (aged 85) Jackson, Wyoming, U.S. John: September 18, 2016 (aged 100) Missoula, Montana, U.S. |
| Alma mater | University of Michigan |
| Occupation | Conservation, falconry, grizzly bear biology |
| Years active | 1934–1976 |
Frank Cooper Craighead, Jr. (August 14, 1916 – October 21, 2001) and John Johnson Craighead (August 14, 1916 – September 18, 2016), twin brothers, were American conservationists, naturalists, and researchers who made important contributions to the study of falconry and grizzly bear biology. Born in Washington, D.C where both graduated from Western High School in 1935, the brothers began collecting and identifying animals and plants they found alongside the Potomac, and soon expanded their interests to birds and hawks, going west in 1934 to begin studying falconry. After the war, during which they were employed as survival trainers, they each married and resumed their work in falconry. During the 1950s they expanded their work to other animals, including many species living in and around Yellowstone, and eventually separated.
In 1959 their careers merged again, this time to begin a 12-year study of grizzly bears in Yellowstone, as the animals were considered threatened by increased human activity; however a 1971 disagreement with the National Park Service ended their Yellowstone studies; however it continued elsewhere in Montana, including the Scapegoat Wilderness. After 1976 their work was mostly confined to field guides and educating the public about environmentalism; however, field ecology continued until Frank's death in 2001 from Parkinson's disease.
In 1998, the National Audubon Society named the brothers among the top 100 conservationists of the 20th century.
Frank Cooper Craighead and John Johnson Craighead were born in Washington, D.C. on August 14, 1916. Their father, Frank Craighead Sr., was an environmentalist and founder of the modern environmentalist Craighead family. Their sister, Jean Craighead George, was an author of books with nature and environmental themes for children and young adults. The twin brothers, almost identical to one another, spent much of their time collecting animals and plants along the banks of the Potomac while out of school, but their breakthrough with wildlife came in 1927, when they raised a baby owl at their home. Their interest in hawks and owls grew, and by the early 1930s they regularly visited hawk and owl nests all along the Potomac. Eventually, after high school, they moved to Pennsylvania and attended college there, graduating with science degrees in 1939.
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