Background
Boulenger was the son of herpetologist and ichthyologist George Albert Boulenger.
Boulenger was the son of herpetologist and ichthyologist George Albert Boulenger.
He was educated at Saint Paul"s School, and became curator at the reptile house in London Zoo in 1911, a position he held for 13 years.
During World War I he served as an observer in the balloon section of the Royal Flying Corps. In 1924 he became director of the newly opened seawater and freshwater aquarium of the Zoological Society of London, whose design and construction he had actively supported since 1921. In 1943 he resigned from his directorship.
Like his father, Boulenger was fluent in both French and German.
This benefited him when he made several trips to mainland Europe to make new acquisitions for the reptile house and the aquarium. Furthermore Boulenger worked as an author
Among his best known works are: A Naturalist at the Dinner Table (1927), A Naturalist at the Zoo (1927), Animal Mysteries (1927), Fishes (1931), The Aquarium (1933), Apes and Monkeys (1936) and Searchlight on Animals (1936).