Bill from the Bronx

By MARK SCHULMAN
Bill Clark grew up in the South Bronx before moving to Connecticut as a teenager. It was here that he learned that nature was much more diverse than city pigeons and sewer rats. And living close to Danbury Airport, it was also here that he started taking an interest in flying.
After serving in the US Marine Corps and studying law and wildlife biology in college, Clark came here in 1974 to volunteer at the Hai-Bar nature reserve near Eilat and to research a book on Israeli wildlife. When he made aliya in 1980, he went back to the Hai-Bar. Subsequently, he earned a PhD in wildlife biology and completed his commercial pilot requirements. He holds pilot licenses from the US, Israel, Kenya and France.
For the past 20 years, he has channeled his passion for wildlife andflying as a law enforcement officer with the Nature and ParksAuthority, the government agency responsible for protecting thecountry’s nature, landscape and heritage.
Despite being modest about his achievements, Clark has been knightedChevalier de l’Ordre du Mérite by the president of Senegal for hisconservation activities in Africa, and has also been awarded the Medalof Diplomacy by the foreign minister of Taiwan. Only several weeks agohe received the 2010 Bavin Award for Wildlife Law Enforcement at ameeting of the UN’s convention on international trade in endangeredspecies.