Reuben David (19 September 1912 [1] – 24 March 1989) was a zoologist and the founder of the Kankaria Zoo in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India.
He was born into a Bene Israel Jewish family in Ahmedabad. [2] He was the youngest son of Joseph David. [3] He was a self-taught veterinarian. He was invited by the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation in 1951 to create a zoo in the city. [2] 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. [4] [5] [6] [7] He had lost his speech due to cancer. [6] He also served as an advisor for Sundervan in Ahmedabad and Indroda Park in Gandhinagar. [4]
He co-authored The Asiatic Lion (1991) with M. A. Rashid who was a retired chief conservator of forests under Government of Gujarat. [4]
He was the Fellow of the Zoological Society (FZS). [8] He was honoured with the Padma Shri by the Government of India in 1975. [4]
Australian anthropologist Colin Groves discovered the prehistoric warthog in 1981 and named the Central Asian boar after him, Sus scrofa davidi. [5] [8]
Author Esther David is his daughter. [5]