Classic Canadian Tours

Les began his career in wildlife biology after graduating from Trent University with a BSc. in 1979. His first job took him to Churchill, Manitoba, as a polar bear researcher. During his time there, he witnessed the beginnings of polar bear tourism and the start of a new understanding of how we view this iconic creature.

Les moved from the Arctic to western Canada, where he worked for 8 years researching the impact of oil and gas exploration on grizzly bear behavior. He also conducted fieldwork on seasonal feeding patterns among black bears on the eastern slopes of the Rockies. His work also included studies on moose, bighorn sheep, and cougars.

In 1988, Les joined the Calgary Zoo as a senior keeper responsible for the animals in the Canadian Wilds exhibit. Through the Zoo's eco-safari education program, he has led over 20 trips to Africa, including the wildebeest migration in the Serengeti, trekking to view gorillas in Rwanda and elephants in Botswana's Okavango delta. He's also led trips to the panda reserve in Wolong province in China, plus explorations in the Galapagos Islands, the Amazon basin, and Antarctica.

For the past 15 years, Les has been thrilled to participate in Classic Canadian Tours' trips to view the annual polar bear migration. In 2014, he began hosting trips for Classic Canadian Tours to British Columbia's Khutzeymateen Nature Reserve to see Grizzly bears and to Churchill for summertime viewing of beluga whales.

He is an avid educator and photographer and remains passionate about wildlife.