Are Ostriches the New Beef?

After crossing the Arrow Lakes on the Needles ferry in British Columbia’s West Kootenays, an observant motorist heading west towards Lumby and Vernon might spy a flock of large, long necked birds running energetically around a trim, neatly fenced pasture.

Our motorist might think she has just seen a movie set for a sequel to Jurassic Park when in fact she has come across the site of Universal Ostrich Farms, home to approximately 500 ostriches, Canada’s largest flock.   

Universal is the pride of business partners Karen Espersen and Dave Bilinski, two pioneering ostrich farmers. Dave shifted from raising cattle to the ostrich business in the early 1990s. Back then, Dave busily imported birds from Africa, mostly from Zimbabwe. He carefully selected breeding stock and established quarantine facilities in Zimbabwe, Namibia and England to enable the air transport of the birds to Canada.

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