Ram Brahma Sanyal

Ram Brahma Sanyal
রামব্রহ্ম সান্যাল
Ram Brahma Sanyal
Born1850
Lalgola, Murshidabad District, Bengal Province, British India (now in West Bengal, India)[1]
Died13 October 1908 (aged 50)
NationalityIndian
Occupation(s)Zoologist, animal trainer

Ram Brahma Sanyal (1850 – 13 October 1908) was the first Indian superintendent of the Alipore Zoological Gardens in Kolkata (then Calcutta). He was a pioneer in captive breeding, and was one of the first zookeepers trained as a biologist. He was a corresponding member of the Zoological Society of London and wrote a handbook on keeping and breeding animals in captivity – A Handbook of the Management of Animals in Captivity in Lower Bengal (1892) which was reviewed in the journal Nature (4 August 1892).[2][3] This was the standard handbook for zookeepers for over 50 years until Lee Crandall published The Management of Wild Mammals in Captivity in 1964. His scientific methods led to the rare birth of a live Sumatran rhinoceros in 1889, an event that was not seen in captivity until 2001.[4][5][6]

  1. ^ Sengupta, Subodh Chandra and Bose, Anjali (editors), (1976), Samsad Bangali Charitabhidhan (Biographical dictionary), (in Bengali), p 479
  2. ^ Walker, S.: Ram Brahma Sanyal – the first zoo biologist. Zoos' Print Journal Vol. 15, No. 5 (1999): p. 9.
  3. ^ Kisling, V.N.: Zoo history and the Sanyal legacy. Zoos' Print Vol. 14, No. 4 (1999): p. 2
  4. ^ Rhino loses fetus, Cincinnati Post, 14 November 1997 (Cincinnati Zoo recorded the next live birth in 2001)
  5. ^ Transcript of R. B. Sanyal interview at SOS Rhino
  6. ^ Staff reporter, A big, beautiful baby, Cincinnati Post, 21 September 2001