A date with a painter named Kamala

The man is not in the animal biz for no reason- in travelling with one of the world’s top animal experts you get a sense that animals respond to his very presence. It was early, 6:45am at the Calgary Zoo, and regular David Letterman guest Jack Hanna was prepping for his nation wide appearance on CTV’s Canada AM, in the background was a very sleepy Koala. But when he saw Hanna making his final preparations, just seconds before show time, the Australian bear came to and posed for the camera, right above Jack’s head. This was just the start to a magical behind the scenes day at the zoo, full of laughter and activity amoungst Jack’s film crew here to shoot upcoming episodes of Jack Hanna’s EMMY winning TV series Into the Wild.

For a look at the clip from Canada AM- please click here

We stopped into to film Mountain Goats, Grizzlies, Swift Fox and spent time with owls, giraffes, red pandas, hippos and one of Canada’s most prolific artists. Kamala, the Calgary Zoo’s 22 year old African Elephant has painted over 6,000 pieces of art in support of conservation and improving her environment. As an enrichment project with the animals, she has been painting for over 10 years, but never before had she taken up her craft on an Ostridge egg. Jack and Suzi worked with Kamala, they held ‘em while the elephant got out her brushes and went to work. It’s amazing that her trunk can not only easily hold the brush, but also navigate over the canvas or a surface such as the egg.

The Calgary Zoo is on 100 acres mostly on the island, surrounded by the Bow River. “It’s gorgeous, it’s so nice when you feel like you are in a natural environment,” said Suzi Hanna- Jack’s wife and co-host of the show upon arrive. The Rocky Mountain habitats teleport you 100 km west of Calgary and bring them right into downtown Calgary. “This place is a jewel for Calgary, Alberta and the country of Canada,” said Suzi. “I think the Calgary Zoo is one of the top 20 zoos on our planet,” said Jack.

After a huge day of filming, dinner that night was certainly required and what better a spot to fuel up than on some local fare- from the River Café found on Calgary’s other populated island- Prince’s Island. The River Café has been here for five years and it was to Suzi’s joy when she made the discovery of the local producer’s scrapbook. Much of the Café’s menu items come from local ranchers and farmer’s. It’ll be this October that the Café welcomes back their producers for their annual feast they serve them than. I think I need to go back for another of their mixed berry Danish – this is a stellar spot for dinner.