Lee Saunders Crandall (January 26, 1887 – June 25, 1969) was an American ornithologist and General Curator of Bronx Zoo.
His father and grandfather being doctors, it was assumed Crandall would follow in their footsteps, and he attended Cornell Medical School in 1907; however, he only stayed for one year before realizing he wanted a career with animals.
This led Crandall to attend Columbia University, where he took a variety of zoology courses during 1908 and 1909, returning to full-time work at the Zoo in 1909[1] Crandall was appointed assistant curator of birds in 1911 and became curator of the Bird Department in 1919, when Beebe began to devote his time fully to his Department of Tropical Research work.
[1] His long and illustrious career led to him achieving a much respected worldwide reputation in the zoo field and he was considered the preeminent authority on zoological park management and the maintenance of wild animals in captivity.
Crandall and his team rode out a storm for six days before they were rescued, and he arrived back in New York after a 44-day voyage, having not lost a single specimen.
2: 580–583, 1909) defined his interests and demonstrates the contributions Crandall made to the subject of understanding the management of captive wild animals.
[1] Crandall's most significant publication was The Management of Wild Animals in Captivity, after which he became known as "dean of American zoo men," such was its impact.