Rudolph Carl Bigalke was a

zoologist Zoology ()The pronunciation of zoology as is usually regarded as nonstandard, though it is not uncommon. is the branch of biology that studies the Animal, animal kingdom, including the anatomy, structure, embryology, evolution, Biological clas ...

, a director of the

McGregor Museum The McGregor Museum in Kimberley, South Africa, originally known as the Alexander McGregor Memorial Museum, is a multidisciplinary museum which serves Kimberley and the Northern Cape, established in 1907. Overview Housed at first in a purpos ...

Kimberley Kimberly or Kimberley may refer to: Places and historical events Australia * Kimberley (Western Australia) ** Roman Catholic Diocese of Kimberley * Kimberley Warm Springs, Tasmania * Kimberley, Tasmania a small town * County of Kimberley, a ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

, subsequently heading the Department of

nature conservation Nature conservation is the moral philosophy and conservation movement focused on protecting species from extinction, maintaining and restoring habitats, enhancing ecosystem services, and protecting biological diversity. A range of values unde ...

at the

University of Stellenbosch Stellenbosch University ( af, Universiteit Stellenbosch) is a public research university situated in Stellenbosch, a town in the Western Cape province of South Africa. Stellenbosch is the oldest university in South Africa and the oldest extant ...

and serving for several terms as Dean of the Faculty of

Forestry Forestry is the science and craft of creating, managing, planting, using, conserving and repairing forests, woodlands, and associated resources for human and environmental benefits. Forestry is practiced in plantations and natural stands. Th ...

at that university. He was born in Kimberley on 24 February 1932 and died on 28 November 2002 at his home in

Stellenbosch Stellenbosch (; )A Universal Pronounc ...

.Hart, R. 2007. Dr Rudolph Carl Bigalke: 1932-2002. In Jacobson & Hart, R. (ed) ''Chapters from the past: 100 years of the McGregor Museum, 1907-2007'' He was affectionately known as 'Rudi' and also had the nickname 'Loxodonta africana'.

Early life and education

Growing up on a farm outside Kimberley, his interest in zoology originated early in life. Schooled at

Kimberley Boys' High School Kimberley Boys' High School is a state secondary school or high school situated adjacent to the Honoured Dead Memorial, in the arc between Dalham and Memorial Roads, Kimberley, Northern Cape, South Africa – a site it has occupied since January 19 ...

, he went on to

Rhodes University Rhodes University is a public university, public research university located in Makhanda, Eastern Cape, Makhanda (Grahamstown) in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa. It is one of four universities in the province. Established in 1904, ...

Grahamstown Makhanda, also known as Grahamstown, is a town of about 140,000 people in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. It is situated about northeast of Port Elizabeth and southwest of East London, Eastern Cape, East London. Makhanda is the lar ...

where he graduated with a BSc Honours in zoology and a university education diploma. Bigalke continued his studies under

Gustav Kramer Gustav Kramer (11 March 1910 – 19 April 1959) was a German zoologist and ornithologist who specialised in allometry. He described ''Xenopus laevis'', the African clawed frog, for the first time in his doctoral thesis. Near the end of the 1 ...

at J.W. Goethe University at

Frankfurt am Main Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , "Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on its na ...

, where he was awarded a PhD in 1956.Obituary: R.C. Bigalke
by Roy Siegfried, 17 Jan 2003, Wildnews, South African Journal of Wildlife Research.

McGregor Museum

Following an initial appointment at the

Etosha National Park Etosha National Park is a national park in northwestern Namibia and one of the largest national parks in Africa. It was proclaimed a game reserve in March 1907 in Ordinance 88 by the Governor of German South West Africa, Friedrich von Lindequist. ...

in what was then

South West Africa South West Africa ( af, Suidwes-Afrika; german: Südwestafrika; nl, Zuidwest-Afrika) was a territory under South African administration from 1915 to 1990, after which it became modern-day Namibia. It bordered Angola (Portuguese colony before 1 ...

(now

Namibia Namibia (, ), officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country in Southern Africa. Its western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Zambia and Angola to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and ea ...

), Bigalke joined the staff of the

in his home town of Kimberley in 1958.

Natal Parks and Stellenbosch University

Bigalke left Kimberley in 1964 to take up the position as Principal Research Officer for the

Natal Parks Board Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife is a governmental organisation responsible for maintaining nature conservation, wildlife conservation areas and biodiversity in KwaZulu-Natal Province, South Africa. Their headquarters is in Queen Elizabeth Park situated on th ...

Pietermaritzburg Pietermaritzburg (; Zulu: umGungundlovu) is the capital and second-largest city in the province of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. It was founded in 1838 and is currently governed by the Msunduzi Local Municipality. Its Zulu name umGungundlovu ...

. In 1970 Bigalke was appointed to head the Department of Nature Conservation at the

, serving also as Dean of the Faculty of Forestry for several terms.

Personal life

In 1957 Bigalke married Ingebord Gaber whom he had met in Windhoek the previous year and they had two sons, Michael and Martin.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bigalke, Rudolph Carl 1932 births 2002 deaths 20th-century South African zoologists South African museologists