This year, the annual EMA conference was held in Denver, CO. The proceedings were held from October 7-11, 2019 at the Downtown Crowne Plaza Hotel. Elephant keepers, enthusiasts, veterinarians, and conservationists from all over the world attended to hear the wonderful presentations, network with colleagues and take a tour of the state of the art elephant exhibit at Denver Zoo.
Denver Zoo elephant exhibit
After a great ice breaker on Monday night at the hotel, the week was filled with presentations on topics ranging from elephant enrichment, training techniques, EEHV research and training, and how to prepare and deal with elephants who pass away. It was an emotional week, with a lot of presenters having the courage to tell their stories in order to help others.
Denver Zoo elephant in the snow
Representing AES was President Linda Reifschneider with her update on fundraising, conservation projects and upcoming events. Linda was grateful for all the zoos and individuals who did fundraisers at California Pizza Kitchen, Panera Bread, and even breweries!
Also representing AES was Dr. Mamatha Sathyanarayana, from Mysore, India, who gave a presentation on her work to support Forest Department Mahouts in her home state of Karnataka in southern India. Her initiative, funded by Asian Elephant Support, includes sessions with Mahouts at the various Forest Department camps since 2015, with a formal Mahout Workshop held in Mysore, India, September 2-4, 2018. The workshop, sponsored in part by Asian Elephant Support, brought Karnataka Forest Department Mahouts together for the first time to share experiences and discuss elephant care and management in forest camps. Mahouts were recognized for their ongoing elephant management efforts, increased their capacity of knowledge, and improved their own competency as well as the welfare of the elephants in their care. And Mamatha’s continued work with these Mahouts resulted in some of them being chosen to participate in a session with students of local schools located in human-elephant conflict areas to present about their work and interact with the students: elephant caregivers as educators telling of their daily work and commitment to their charges.
Mamatha speaking in front of the crowd
Mamatha also got her first experience with snow on the final day of the conference! Zoo day turned out to be a snowy and cold day for everyone, and even though it snowed, the crew at Denver Zoo put on a wonderful afternoon. Barn tours, feedings, training sessions, and even the boys got into the outside pool in the snow for a little dip! It was incredible to see their bachelor herd of 5 Asian Elephants and the huge barn and exhibit and how it operates. The entire zoo was spectacular, including their tropical exhibit (it was warm inside there!!)Thank you to the entire Denver Zoo staff for everything they did for us there!
Janet, Mamatha, and Mindy in the snow
The closing banquet was held in the conference center at the zoo, and the attendees were offered locally brewed beers, wine, and a beautiful Mexican dinner buffet. And it wouldn’t be EMA’s final banquet without a silent auction, awards for elephant excellence, and the announcement of who will be hosting the 2020 conference –Milwaukee Zoo!
This annual event is always filled with networking, lots of laughs and hugs of joy as well as comfort as annually it is our opportunity to celebrate the “highs” of caring for and about Asian elephants and the “lows” for those in our elephant and human community to whom we have had to say goodbye. We head home reenergized and eager to continue our respective efforts on behalf of Asian elephants.
An elephantine thanks to Denver Zoo and the Elephant Managers Association for another wonderful conference! See you next year in Milwaukee!