Page 4 - Ex-Situ Updates - Double Edition

TRIBUTE A portrait (Credits: Anukul Barman) Source: Alipore zoo

RAM BRAMHA SANYAL

(1851 - 13 October 1908)
th

Text: Sanjit Kumar Saha, WBFS
Divisional Forest Officer, Coochbehar
Division, West Bengal

Like most hardworking, rural young men of his time,

Ram Brahma Sanyal wanted to take up the
respectable profession of becoming a doctor. Hailing
from a small village Mahula in Murshidabad District
of then undivided Bengal, the young boy dreamt big,
fascinated by the animal beings around him. Living

alongside the Gangetic plains, one of the most
ecologically diverse and fertile landscapes, his interest
ecologically diverse and fertile landscapes, his interest
in zoology blossomed. After schooling from

Berhampore, Murshidabad he joined the Calcutta
Medical College. But, poor eyesight hindered his
dream to become a good doctor paved the way for
him to become the first Superintendent of the famous
Alipore Zoological Garden, Kolkata. He was also one

of the longest-
of the longesserving superintendents of the zoo from
1880 to 1906.

It was his keen observation of animals that set him
apart. If an animal died, he would assist the
veterinarian in its postmortem and send a report to the
committee. He always kept silver nitrate solution,
carbolic acid, caustic soda, chalk powder, etc. in his

hand and used them to treat the animals if necessary.
He also researched snake venom in the specially
created zoo laboratory with the sole intention to find a
created zoo laboratory with the sole intention to find a
reliable cure to snake bites.

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