Exploring Nature: Victor E
manuel
I had the rare privilege of meeting Victor Lloyd Emanuel some years ago, after arranging for him to speak at a meeting of our local bird club. I was very happy with the talk he made, which as I recall, covered birds ranging from flightless cormorants to Galapagos penguins.
At the time, he was head of a nature tour company called, fittingly enough, Victor Emanuel Nature Tours, or VENT. It was one of the very first outfits to lead tours all around the world that featured not only birds, but all the other delights encountered in the wilds of nature.
He was equally at home describing hummingbirds of Arizona and Sally Lightfoot crabs from the Galapagos Islands. His company offered insightful, well-led tours to places around the world.
Victor was born and raised in Houston and at his death in March of this year, he was 84.
He developed a love of nature at a very early age and received a bachelor’s degree in zoology from the University of Texas and a master’s degree in government from Harvard University. He founded his tour company in 1976 in Houston and it was one of the very first venturing into ecotourism and offering inclusive nature tours.
He moved the company to Austin in 1978, and it remains a leader in its field today. Victor would be most proud.
Travis Audubon Society in Austin created the Victor Emanuel Conservation Award to honor local leaders in conservation. Victor was the very first recipient of his namesake award. It was certainly well deserved.
Victor’s memoir, published by UT Press, is titled “One More Warbler, A Life with Birds.”
