Cochrane Ideas – March 2019

ALL ABOUT (THE CALGARY) ELEPHANTS

At 7 pm on Friday March 8, 2019
at King Solomon Lodge Centre Avenue, Cochrane

Please bring snacks if you can.  Doors open at 6:15 p.m.

Bob Kam, the former Elephant Keeper at the Calgary Zoo, will speak about how to work with elephants, how to understand and train them, and also how to deal with the ups and downs of dealing with such high profile and, at times, controversial zoo animals. Bob will also talk about elephant anatomy, especially the trunk, their size, the musth, birthing and health issues. He will also address the question of ivory trade and the current status of elephants in the wild. Bob’s talk will be accompanied by lots of slides.

Bob Kam always had a great love for animals; this led him to a career at the Calgary Zoo starting in1973. During his apprenticeship in animal care three elephants arrived from Sri Lanka, and for the following 40 years Bob was the Elephant Manager leading a team of Elephant Keepers. In the course of his work he learned, applied and taught all aspects of elephant husbandry and health care. He established a very close rapport with the largest and most intelligent animal on four legs just so that these elephants could be cared for properly. Bob was awarded a White Hat in 1997 another one in 2004 for excellence in promoting tourism for the City Of Calgary. He now is retired and, with his spouse Cindy, lives in the Ghost Valley.


Many thanks to Sandy Aberdeen for his very well organized presentation on Climate Change: Is It Too Late? at our February Ideas.  Even some of us who are very aware indeed of the issues on climate change and food security found much to mull over.