Ralf Sommerlad

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Ralf Sommerlad (born August 5, 1952 in Frankfurt am Main ; † June 11, 2015 ibid.) Was a German conservationist , author and nature photographer who temporarily gained nationwide notoriety as a "crocodile whisperer" primarily through training crocodiles in European zoos. His collaboration with Ludwig Trutnau published book "crocodiles. Biology and Attitude ”(2006), which was also published in an English-language edition, is now regarded as a standard work.

Life

As a teenager, Sommerlad was encouraged by Bernhard Grzimek and Robert Mertens to pursue a career in science. After finishing school he completed an apprenticeship as an animal keeper in the Exotarium of the Frankfurt Zoological Garden , but after a few years he took up the profession of insurance broker .

He remained connected to the Frankfurt Zoo, published numerous articles in specialist terrarium and herpetological journals and gave lectures in zoos and at specialist conferences around the world on the biology , behavior and protection of crocodiles , especially the Sunda gaviale .

In the German Society for Herpetology and Terrarium Science (DGHT), Sommerlad was temporarily the 2nd chairman and secretary of the "AG Krokodile". On an international level, he was a founding member and chairman of the Tomistoma Task Force (TTF) within the Crocodile Specialist Group (CSG) of the World Conservation Union , but resigned when he was appointed vice chairman of the CSG for Europe. He also acted as a consultant for the Reptile Taxon Advisory Group (TAG) of the European Association of Zoos and Aquaria (EAZA) and held positions on the board of directors of the Madras Crocodile Bank Trust and on the board of the Crocodilian Conservation Center of Florida at various times .

The conversion of the crocodile enclosures in the zoos in Cologne and Leipzig was carried out according to Sommerlad's suggestions. He designed the Sunda-Gaviale in Wetland Park in Hong Kong , which is considered to be the best in the world.

One project that Sommerlad particularly pushed was the protection of Lake Mesangat in Indonesia with the local populations of the endangered Siamese crocodiles and Sunda gaviale.

Sommerlad, “Germany's leading crocodile expert”, gained wide recognition through training crocodile keepers in various zoos, such as in Hamburg , Cologne and Basel .

In November 2015, the Virginia Aquarium & Marine Science Center published a report that a newly acquired Sunda Gavial breeding pair had been christened "Ralf" and "Sommer" in memory of the crocodile expert who had died a few months earlier. In the same year, the first Ralf Sommerlad Crocodile Conservation Award was presented at the CrocFest in Florida.

In January 2016, the Crocodile Specialist Group of the World Conservation Union declared August 5th to be "World Tomistoma Day" (World Sunda Gavial Day). The date was chosen to posthumously honor Ralf Sommerlad, who was born on August 5th.

Works (selection)

  • Trutnau, L. & R. Sommerlad: Crocodiles: Biology and Keeping , Verlag Chimaira, Frankfurt 2006.
  • Trutnau, L. & R. Sommerlad: Crocodilians - Their Biology and Captive Husbandry , Verlag Chimaira, Frankfurt 2006.
  • Sommerlad, R., D. Karbe, K. van der Straeten, A. Rauhaus & D. Ziegler: Crocodiles , in: Expertise Hazardous Reptiles , VDA / DGHT Expertise GbR, Mannheim 2014.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Crocodile Whisperer in the Hagenbeck Tropical Aquarium. In: hagenbeck.de. August 14, 2014, accessed July 24, 2015 .
  2. ↑ Ralf Sommerlad died at the age of 62. In: fnp.de. Frankfurter Neue Presse , June 15, 2015, accessed on July 24, 2015 .
  3. ↑ "Dogs always bite me". The crocodile expert teaches zookeepers in Hagenbeck's zoo. In: spiegel.de. Der Spiegel , September 19, 2014, accessed on August 5, 2019 .
  4. ↑ Fabian Schmidt, Bruce Shwedick & Kent Vliet: "Ralf Sommerlad (1952-2015)". In: Crocodile Specialist Group Newsletter Vol. 34 No. April 2, 2015 - June 2015. IUCN - Species Survival Commission, Karama (Australia) 2015, pp. 4–5. PDF; 4.7 MB (English).
  5. ↑ Virginia Aquarium Welcomes Two New Tomistoma ( Memento of the original from December 19, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.virginiaaquarium.com
  6. ↑ History of CrocFest.
  7. ↑ | World Tomistoma Day
personal data
SURNAME Sommerlad, Ralf
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German conservationist, author and nature photographer
DATE OF BIRTH 5th August 1952
PLACE OF BIRTH Frankfurt am Main , Hessen , Germany
DATE OF DEATH June 11, 2015
Place of death Frankfurt am Main , Hessen , Germany