Charles Mayer (animal collector)

Originally from Binghamton, New York, Mayer ran away at age seventeen to join the Sells Brothers Circus as an elephant trainer.

[2] Mayer attempted to build an animal-export business to American circuses by offering low prices, but often listed animals he had not yet trapped for sale and was not very successful.

[3] His 1922 book Trapping Wild Animals in Malay Jungles was initially successful; it was even chosen for display at the Malayan section of the 1924 British Empire Exhibition.

"[4] Ironically, the book proved to be massively plagiarized from the writings of G. P. Sanderson, a British official in charge of elephant catching in Mysore, India.

The plagiarism of Sanderson's Thirteen Years Among the Wild Beasts of India was detected by the director of the Raffles Museum, F. N. Chasen, who stated in 1933, "Mayer's book should not be taken seriously.