Newsletter 3/2011 A Collector
| Mr. Slawomir Kamola |
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| 29th March 1974, Pulawy Date and Place of Birth Policeman, Taekwon-Do ITF and self-defence instructor Occupation 4th degree black belt Degree Since 1987 Years in Taekwon-Do LSKT Lublin Club Daughter Weronika, 13 years old Children |
Mr. Slawomir Kamola is a policeman. He works at Voivodeship Police Headquarters in Lublin, in the antiterrorist section. He participated in the ONZ peacekeeping mission in Kosovo in the years 2003-2004. He has licenses of a parachutist, a sports shooting, a rock climber and a scuba diver. Mr. Kamola has a lots of interests.
He practices regularly Taekwon-Do in Lublin Sports Taekwon-Do Club. Master Tadeusz Loboda is his coach. Mr. Kamola is a specialist in patterns and self-defence. He also collects the mini cars made by BBurago. He is interested in entomology and has a big collection of butterflies. Mr. Slawomir Kamola is a very vivid person. This interview refers to his biggest passion which he takes up every day and has very specialist knowledge is his breeding of parrots.
- How the parrots became interesting for you?
I was watching the birds in a few zoos. The information about the longevity of some species, from 40 – 100 years old aroused my interest, also their amusing behaviour during mating and the ways of eating attracted my attention.
- Is the breeding the way of working off the stress from your job?
Not only work is important. You need some kind of springboard. However, my breeding brings me more stress than my job.
- Do you know how many people in Poland have the similar interest?
About 1000 breeders engaged in reproduction and varying their collections, not mention the people having one or two at homes as decoration or for a company.
- Where do you draw your knowledge from?
Mostly from older breeders, who have this hobby for a long time. Also from Polish and foreign magazines and books about parrots.
- Can we call you an expert?
You can be an expert only in theory, practise is something totally different. I have a knowledge about the species I posses. There are about 330 species of parrot all over the world.
- How many parrots do you have and which are the most priceless for you?
I have about 30 species and about 200 varieties of multi-colour ones. My favourite are electus parrot and grey parrot, who repeat many words.
- Is there any specimen you desire?
Yes. Red-tailed Black Cockatoo, living in Australia, costs about 30 000 Euro, what is a great obstacle.
- How much does it cost to keep such a breeding? Is it profitable?
It is like keeping something what brings you joy, and I don’t count that. It is profitable only when they breed, it takes about 7 – 10 years among some species, so it requires a lot of patience, like when practicing Taekwon-Do.
- How do you and your family stand their presence and the noise they make?
Some species make noise only in the morning, so it is loud only for a while. I do not keep very noisy ones. My family is sometimes annoyed by the noise, but it’s a great feeling when the parrots talk and call everyone by name. Most of the species is in the cages outside the house.
- How many time do you spend on your hobby?
A LOT!!! About four hours. They need fresh water every day. In due seasons they requires the proper diet, before brooding, feeding, moulting and in winter.
