Peter Cyril Byrne
WWII Veteran, Conservationist, Explorer, Author
August 22, 1925 - July 28, 2023
Peter was born August 22, 1925 in Dublin, Ireland. He was raised with three siblings on their family estate in Ireland. In 1943 he enlisted in the Royal Air Force and was stationed in the East Indian Ocean on the Coco's Islands off of Australia where he served with distinction until the war ended.

When the war ended, Peter became a tea planter in northeast India. After a serendipitous encounter in Bombay, he became friends with the King of Nepal's brother and was granted property in Nepal where Peter conducted hunting safaris in the White Grass Plains of western Nepal.

In 1968, after 18 years of big game hunting, he turned to conservation in Nepal where he convinced the government to create a wildlife preserve, and eventually establish the Sukila Phanta National Park. He said, "I showed them that taking a photo-
graph of a rhinoceros was worth 1,000 times more than shooting it once." He also pioneered Nepal river rafting, and trekking expeditions on many of his trips to the country.

During the Nepal years, Peter also established the non-profit International Wildlife Conservation Society (www.internationalwildlife.org). In the interests of the Society, he traveled globally and through his magnetic personality, established many friends and gained honors, among them a Fellow of the Royal Geographic Society and membership in the Explorers Club of New York. But, spiritually, he was forever drawn to Nepal and the Himalayas, with his last trip to Nepal thought to be in 2012.

In Nepal, Peter was sought after by Texas oil man Tom Slick. Slick financed a two year Byrne Himalayan expedition to find the fabled yeti. After few results were found of the yeti, Slick brought Peter to northern California and the Pacific Northwest USA to track Bigfoot in 1960. That search unfortunately ended with Slick's sudden death in an airplane crash in 1962.

Thereafter, Peter conducted two other, long and well-funded northern Oregon Bigfoot projects. Again, with no physical evidence of Bigfoot, those projects ended in the late 1990s. Peter then moved to Los Angeles, but after never really feeling at home in the overcrowded city, he retired to a home on the banks of the Nestucca River in Pacific City, Oregon.

In Pacific City, Peter continued to write the remainder of his 20 books. He also wandered the mountains of the Coastal Range with friends in his continuing quest for sightings of Bigfoot.

Peter Cyril Byrne passed away peacefully on July 28, 2023 in Tillamook, Oregon. He is survived by his daughter Rara Byrne now living in Perth, Australia, his sister Beryl Greene of Maidenhead, England, and his life partner of more than 25 years - Cathy Griffin who continues to live in the Pacific City, Oregon cabin that they shared for many years.

Remembrances:

To help honor Peter's legacy, the Peter C. Byrne Memorial Scholarship Fund for an Adventurous Student has been created:

All Donations are Tax Deductible - EIN 237315673

Checks can be made payable to:
      Oregon Community Foundation
      1221 SW Yamhill St. #100
      Portland, OR 97205

Please write the name of the fund on your check, and be sure to include your name and address in order to receive a receipt for your donation!

Any questions - including how to make donations from abroad - can be directed to:
      Cathy Griffin
      PO Box 802
      Pacific City, OR 97135


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