Reuben David (19 September 1912 – 24 March 1989) was a zoologist and the founder of the

Kankaria Kankaria Lake is the second largest lake in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India. It is located in the south-eastern part of the city, in the Maninagar area. It was completed in 1451 during the reign of Sultan Qutb-ud-Din Ahmad Shah II though its origi ...

Zoo in Ahmedabad,

Gujarat Gujarat (, ) is a state along the western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the fifth-largest Indian state by area, covering some ; and the nin ...

, India.

Biography

He was born into a

Bene Israel The Bene Israel (), also referred to as the " Shanivar Teli" () or " Native Jew" caste, are a community of Jews in India. It has been suggested that they are the descendants of one of the Ten Lost Tribes via their ancestors who had settled there c ...

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

family in Ahmedabad. He was the youngest son of Joseph David. He was a self-taught veterinarian. He was invited by the

Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation The Amdavad Municipal Corporation, or the AMC, established in July 1950 under the Bombay Provincial Corporation Act (1949), is responsible for the civic infrastructure and administration of the city of Ahmedabad. History On 21 April 1831, the ...

in 1951 to create a zoo in the city. He also founded the Kankaria Zoo (now Kamala Nehru Zoological Garden), the Chacha Nehru Balvatika (Children's Park) and the Natural History Museum, later named after him. He had lost his speech due to cancer. He also served as an advisor for Sundervan in Ahmedabad and Indroda Park in

Gandhinagar Gandhinagar (, ) is the capital of the state of Gujarat in India. Gandhinagar is located approximately 23 km north of Ahmedabad, on the west central point of the Industrial corridor between Delhi, the political capital of India, and ...

. He co-authored ''The Asiatic Lion'' (1991) with M. A. Rashid who was a retired chief conservator of forests under Government of Gujarat. He was the Fellow of the Zoological Society (FZS). He was honoured with the