Sunrise Rotary Talk on Protecting Africa's Elephants

Westport resident and Sunrise Rotary Club member Ken Bernhard will speak on "Protecting the Elephants of Africa" at the club's breakfast meeting on Friday, August 27,  at 7:30 a.m., at Bobby Q's Restaurant, 42 Main Street.  Guests are welcome. There is a $12 fee for the meeting, which includes a breakfast buffet.

According to Bernhard, the poaching of elephants for their tusks is a chronic problem and it endangers the future of the species. In Kenya alone, where the elephant population in 1963 had been 170,000, by 1989 the total had dropped to 16,000. The population was reported at 32,000 as of last year.  Elephants, however, are not the only species so threatened.

For Bernhard, supporting animal rights is a passion: "Protecting the animals in Africa is a conflict between human greed and the survival of wild animals in their natural environment---and greed is winning."

Bernhard is a principal attorney at Cohen and Wolf in Westport.  While he has decades of experience negotiating on behalf of municipalities and businesses in litigation and real estate matters, he has spent many years volunteering for animal protection groups. His voluntarism has seen him serve in various capacities and locations and has led to friendships all over the world.

Through one of those personal connections, Bernhard was invited by the Kenyan Wildlife Service to assist in tracking elephant poachers and rooting-out ivory traffickers. In this capacity Bernard posed as an American tourist interested in buying ivory. "It was fascinating," Bernhard said of his 11-day adventure. "Kenya is serious about protecting its wildlife, and I was honored to be part of a process where I could make a small contribution."

For more information about Westport Sunrise Rotary, visit the club's website at westportsunriserotary.com; call the club's "hotline" at 203-454-6446; contact Sheila Keenan, membership, at 203 856 9172, sheilafkeenan@aol.com; or attend a meeting any Friday at 7:30 a.m. at Bobby Q's Restaurant, 42 Main Street, Westport.

The members of the Westport Sunrise Rotary Club are a diverse group of business and professional leaders who contribute their time, talents and financial support to aid local charities, youth programs and international humanitarian programs.