Animal appetites

Do you think your grocery bill is high? Imagine what it takes to feed more than a thousand zoo animals. The Calgary Zoo spends $352,080 a year on food alone for its animal residents. That includes 61,673 kilograms of meat, 36,364 kilograms of fruits and vegetables, 4,545 kilograms of fish and 34,091 kilograms of dry kibbles.

Making sure the animals are being provided with healthy, nutritious diets is a team effort, with meals prescribed and monitored by zookeepers, veterinarians and nutritionists.

Dave Banks has worked at the Calgary Zoo for 35 years. He’s the manager of Exhibit Services and oversees the buying, storage and provision of food for the animals.

“Every animal has its own special diet,” he explains. “Adjustments are being continually made to ensure each animal is specially fed, taking weight and other health factors into consideration.”

Banks believes in using Alberta-grown food whenever possible, spanning from the thousands of kilograms of hay consumed by the Ceylon Elephants to the grass fed to the Black-Tailed Prairie Dogs. Snakes are fed crickets from Krickets Unlimited, an exotic pet supplier in Lacombe and milk for baby animals comes from Alberta born and raised goats. The animals at the zoo munch exclusively on Alberta-produced hay and meat originates from suppliers in High River, Ardrossan and Calgary.