Charles Robert Senhouse Pitman, DSO, MC (19 March 1890 – 18 September 1975) was a noted herpetologist, conservationist and friend of Joy Adamson.

During his army career, which spanned the First World War, Pitman fought in Mesopotamia (where he was awarded the DSO and MC), and also in Egypt and France.

This book, which was originally published in serial form in the Uganda Journal (1936–1937), is the foundation for Pitman's reputation as a methodical and exhaustive herpetologist.

[1] Pitman was not limited to one area of research, however, and planned to publish, and at the time of his death had completed the typescript of, a book on elephants.

Rhodes House also holds a complete set of Annual Reports of the Game Department in Uganda which Pitman wrote from 1925 to 1951.