William Douglas Burden, explorer, naturalist

Explorer, Film Maker, Artist, Naturalist, Mr. Burden traveled the world collecting amphibian, fish and insect specimens, established the Department of Animal Behavior at the American Museum of Natural History in New York in 1928. He founded and was president of Marineland in St. Augustine, Fla., in 1938. Shortly after graduating from Harvard College in 1922, Mr. Burden went on one of his early expeditions to the Far East to bring back specimens for the museum, and in 1926 he was elected to the museum's board of trustees. Mr. Burden led expeditions to the Arctic as well as to tropical islands, but his most widely publicized expedition was to the Dutch East Indies to the Island of Komodo in 1926. He and his first wife, Catherine White Burden, and their party went looking for a fierce direct descendent of the dinosaur, Varanus Komodoensis, which came to be known as the Komodo dragon and which had been rumored to be as long as 30 feet. No white man had captured one, and Mr. Burden was determined to do so. The Burdens found and trapped the giant lizards, who were lured into sapling traps baited with buffalo meat, but they were approximately 10 feet long and weighed 350 pounds. They were ferocious, effortlessly devouring a whole buffalo at one sitting. On this expedition, they collected 3,000 insect and amphibian specimens and brought out alive three Komodo lizards, two of which were given to the Bronx Zoo, where they soon died. Two of the dragons are mounted in the new Hall of Reptiles and Amphibians at the museum. Mr. Burden wrote a book on his Komodo Island expedition in 1927 called “The Dragon Lizards of Komodo.” At the time of the expedition, Mr. Burden and his wife lived on East 72nd Street in New York. During World War II, Mr. Burden developed a shark repellent for the United States Navy. In 1960 Mr. Burden wrote “Book to the Wilderness.” Mr. Burden was born in Troy, N.Y. After receiving an A.B. from Harvard, he obtained a masters degree from Columbia University in 1926.

https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1978/11/16/112810950....

• William's birth, photograph, and death information are available at https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/45053592/william-douglas-burden
• William's photograph is used courtesy of Bobby Kelley, Find A Grave ID 46959922.
• The following write-up is available at the above-mentioned URL:
  • "Explorer, Film Maker, Artist, Naturalist, Mr. Burden traveled the world collecting amphibian, fish and insect specimens, established the Department of Animal Behavior at the American Museum of Natural History in New York in 1928. He founded and was president of Marineland in St. Augustine, Fla., in 1938.
  • "Shortly after graduating from Harvard College in 1922, Mr. Burden went on one of his early expeditions to the Far East to bring back specimens for the museum, and in 1926 he was elected to the museum's board of trustees. Mr. Burden led expeditions to the Arctic as well as to tropical islands, but his most widely publicized expedition was to the Dutch East Indies to the Island of Komodo in 1926.
  • "He and his first wife, Catherine White Burden, and their party went looking for a fierce direct descendent of the dinosaur, Varanus Komodoensis, which came to be known as the Komodo dragon and which had been rumored to be as long as 30 feet. No white man had captured one, and Mr. Burden was determined to do so.
  • "He and his first wife, Catherine White Burden, and their party went looking for a fierce direct descendent of the dinosaur, Varanus Komodoensis, which came to be known as the Komodo dragon and which had been rumored to be as long as 30 feet. No white man had captured one, and Mr. Burden was determined to do so.
  • "Mr. Burden wrote a book on his Komodo Island expedition in 1927 called “The Dragon Lizards of Komodo.” At the time of the expedition, Mr. Burden and his wife lived on East 72nd Street in New York. During World War II, Mr. Burden developed a shark repellent for the United States Navy.
  • " In 1960 Mr. Burden wrote “Book to the Wilderness.” Mr. Burden was born in Troy, N.Y. After receiving an A.B. from Harvard, he obtained a master's degree from Columbia University in 1926."