The cast at Disney’s Animal Kingdom is delighted that we get to introduce our guests to so many rare and fascinating animals. One of those is the okapi, an animal that, because of its stripes, is often thought to be related to the zebra but, actually, is the only living relative of the giraffe.

We are very happy to announce that late last week — on June 21 — we welcomed a new okapi calf to the Disney’s Animal Kingdom family. Our teams usually take some time deciding on names for new arrivals, but they quickly chose the African name “Nafuna” for the female calf—it means “delivered feet first.”

First-time mom, Zawadi, and the calf, who weighed 35 pounds at birth, are doing very well (the baby already had her first wellness exam) and are being monitored closely by the animal care team in their backstage home at Disney’s Animal Kingdom. The calf’s dad, Akili, lives at Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge, where guests also can see okapi on the resort’s savanna.

Guests will have two opportunities to catch a glimpse of the okapi calf a couple of months from now, when she goes out in the park’s Ituri Forest. Guests can see okapi when they ride the Kilimanjaro Safaris Expedition and when they travel the Pangani Forest Exploration Trail.

In the wild, the okapi is considered rare, and they are threatened by habitat loss due to logging and human settlement, as well as by hunting.

Okapi fun facts:

• The okapi’s stripes work as camouflage when hiding in the partial sunlight that filters through the forest canopy.
• Okapi are typically solitary animals, living alone or in mother-offspring pairs. They are extremely wary and secretive, making okapi very difficult to observe in the lowland rainforest of central Africa where they make their home.
• The okapi’s gestation period is about 14 months.
• Adult okapi can reach weights of 550-720 pounds, with females typically being larger than males. They can live over 30 years in zoological facilities.
• Normally silent, female okapi vocalize with a soft “chuff” during courtship and when calling to their calves. There are infrasonic qualities to their call, which are below the frequency that the human ear can pick up.

Check out these other posts from the Wildlife Wednesdays series:

• Wildlife Wednesdays: Disney Worldwide Conservation Fund Named Corporate Conservationist of the Year
• Wildlife Wednesdays: Heard the Buzz? Disney’s Animal Kingdom Scientists, Educators are Helping People and Elephants, with an Assist from an Unlikely Source — Bees
• Wildlife Wednesdays: The Story of Cinderella the Sea Turtle at Disney’s Vero Beach Resort

Tagged: Conservation, DAK, WDW

Filed: Disney's Animal Kingdom, Walt Disney World Resort

This past weekend, I was proud and humbled to accept on behalf of the Disney company — and you, our guests — the Corporate Conservationist of the Year award, which was presented to the Disney Worldwide Conservation Fund (DWCF) by the Florida Wildlife Federation during its 75th anniversary celebration.

The Federation selected DWCF for the award “because of the very generous grants and remarkable efforts provided worldwide and in Florida by the fund for conservation projects, endangered species protection and for excellent research in the field of conservation,” said Manley K. Fuller, Florida Wildlife Federation president.

DWCF has provided nearly $4 million to support 257 programs and 59 organizations in Florida (part of the nearly $20 million contributed worldwide). Here are a few examples of Florida projects the DWCF has helped support.

Protecting ocean wildlife and habitats:

• Reducing human impacts on dolphins (Chicago Zoological Society) – The longest-running study of a dolphin population to understand the extent and effects of human impacts on wild dolphins and how to educate people to reduce these impacts.
• Effects of Gulf of Mexico oil spill on dolphins (Morris Animal Foundation/Mote Marine Lab) – Study to understand the effects of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill on dolphins.
• Northern right whale monitoring (Marine Resources Council) – Volunteer training and outreach programs to maintain a network of whale-watching citizens who report North Atlantic right whale sightings. The reports are relayed to ships traveling in the whale-calving grounds to help prevent collisions. The program also is gathering long-term data on the habitat, behavior and reproduction of these rare whales, which number fewer than 400.
• Coral restoration (Coral Restoration Foundation) – Expanding coral reef nurseries in the Florida Keys to restore degraded Elkhorn and Staghorn coral reefs and to develop materials and methods that will enable this work to be replicated across ocean coral ecosystems.

Protecting Florida birds and habitats:

• Establishment of a new red-cockaded woodpecker population (The Nature Conservancy) — Increasing the population of the eight woodpecker family groups at The Nature Conservancy’s Disney Wilderness Preserve.
• Restoring the Everglades ecosystems (Audubon of Florida) — Restoring the Everglades ecosystems affected by wetland drainage, development and flood control.

Did you know? The Disney Worldwide Conservation Fund is funded by Disney, which has committed to more than match guest contributions and covers all administrative costs. Guests help to support the fund in a variety of ways, from adding a dollar or more to their purchases of food and gifts at Disney’s Animal Kingdom and select resorts (including the brand new Disney’s Art of Animation Resort); to participating in special animal experiences on Disney Cruise Line and at Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge, The Seas with Nemo & Friends in Epcot, and Aulani, a Disney Resort & Spa in Hawai’i; to purchasing reusable shopping bags and other items and at Walt Disney World Resort and Disneyland Resort.

Check out these other posts from the Wildlife Wednesdays series:

• Wildlife Wednesdays: Heard the Buzz? Disney’s Animal Kingdom Scientists, Educators are Helping People and Elephants, with an Assist from an Unlikely Source — Bees
• Wildlife Wednesdays: The Story of Cinderella the Sea Turtle at Disney’s Vero Beach Resort
• Wildlife Wednesdays: Is a Tortoise a Turtle? Find Out This and More at The Seas with Nemo & Friends and Disney’s Animal Kingdom

Tagged: Conservation, DLR, WDW

Filed: Disneyland Resort, Walt Disney World Resort

I’m excited to be a part of a special conservation program in Kenya, where Disney scientists and educators are partnering with the conservation group Save the Elephants to protect elephants and help people, with assistance from an unlikely source: bees.

It all started a number of years ago with the idea that elephants may be afraid of bees, and the conception of the “beehive fence,” which could be a useful tool to stop crop-raiding elephants.

Together with Save the Elephants, we conducted a series of audio playback experiments, showing that elephants are indeed afraid of bees, and that the elephants produce a special alarm call which warns nearby elephants of the danger. Although elephants’ skin is pretty thick, they also have sensitive parts that bees can sting, such as the ears and eyes and inside their trunks, so there is nothing the elephants can do but run away.

Since then, Save the Elephants has constructed beehive fences that have successfully deterred crop-raiding elephants. Not only that, the local farmers can harvest honey and consume or sell it at local markets. So it’s a win-win situation for elephants and human families. A fellow scientist here at Disney’s Animal Kingdom, Anne Savage, shared some information on this project on the Disney Parks Blog a couple of years ago, and the project has been progressing, so I wanted to provide an update for my first blog post.

We are continuing to work to reduce human conflict with crop-raiding elephants by offering non-violent alternatives to stop the elephants from destroying people’s farms. At the same time, we’re helping children and families form a stronger connection to wildlife. In this way, we can ensure a future for people and elephants in northern Kenya.

Recently, we have been stepping up our efforts in the area of education, thanks to the partnership of the Disney’s Animal Programs Education Team at Disney’s Animal Kingdom. This work includes integrating conservation messages into the local school curriculum, and engaging children in outdoor activities that teach methods to reduce conflict with wildlife.

Of course, children love to play, and playing is a fantastic way to learn. So in addition to benefiting from classroom offerings, kids are learning about the importance of conservation by playing a variety of education-based games. One of these is the endangered species game — a twist on “musical chairs.” In the game, each child gets to be a different animal. As threats to wildlife increase, there are fewer and fewer hoops for the kids to jump into — but as people develop ways to reduce those threats, such as building beehive fences, the number of hoops increases. The kids have a great time and learn that they have the power to help wildlife.

The educational program is part of a broader effort to transform the community from an elephant poaching hotspot to a conservation conservancy. This way, people both protect and benefit from the amazing wildlife — including the magnificent elephants — that shares their world.

The next time you visit Disney’s Animal Kingdom, be sure to stop by Conservation Station in Rafiki’s Planet Watch, where you might find me in the Wildlife Tracking Center and can certainly learn more about our elephant conservation work as well as many other projects.

Check out these posts to read more about Disney’s conservation efforts:

• Wildlife Wednesdays: The Story of Cinderella the Sea Turtle at Disney’s Vero Beach Resort
• Wildlife Wednesdays: Is a Tortoise a Turtle? Find Out This and More at The Seas with Nemo & Friends and Disney’s Animal Kingdom
• Rhino Mom Welcomes Newest Addition to Disney’s Animal Kingdom Family

Tagged: Conservation, DAK, WDW

Filed: Disney's Animal Kingdom, Walt Disney World Resort

Everyone loves our Florida beaches — and that includes several species of endangered sea turtles. In fact, more endangered loggerhead sea turtles lay their eggs on Florida beaches than on just about any other beach in the world!

There is nothing more spectacular than watching a female sea turtle who has been swimming in the ocean for 20-30 years decide that it’s now time to lay her very first clutch of eggs on the beach. Not everyone has the opportunity to see a nesting turtle (of course, it’s important that we not disturb them), so how about you follow me on a nighttime walk on the beach?

It is a lovely, breezy night on the beach near Disney’s Vero Beach Resort a couple of weeks ago as I start my walk. It’s overcast, the waves are calm, and there are not very many people on the beach, which means it should be a good night for sea turtle nesting. With night-vision goggles around my neck, I’m ready to look for a sea turtle that is going to make her way from the water to the dune to lay her eggs.

But for hours there’s nothing … not even a hint of a sea turtle head emerging from the water. I keep walking. Still nothing … at least it is a nice night to look at the stars. You can see so many more stars by using the night-vision goggles, and I tell myself that this is great exercise. Several hours later: still walking and not a single sign of a sea turtle. What is going on?

Finally, I see a loggerhead sea turtle! I do believe that “Cinderella” is a fitting name for this late princess — Cinderella didn’t make it home from the ball by midnight, and Cinderella the sea turtle didn’t make it up to the beach until after midnight — 1:28 a.m., to be exact!

She slowly makes her way from the ocean, pulling her 200+ pound body through the sand — her shell is almost three feet long. It’s hard work for a turtle who is so buoyant in the ocean to crawl up the beach! She stops frequently to take a breath and then moves near the dune. Once she finds a spot in the sand, Cinderella begins to dig her nest chamber using just her back flippers! It’s amazing to think she can create a nest without being able to see what is going on! At about 2 a.m., she begins to drop eggs into the egg chamber. The nest chamber is about two feet deep — so why don’t the eggs break as they fall to the bottom? It’s because sea turtles eggs are not hard shelled, but rather soft like very thin leather. Cinderella is filling her nest chamber with a lot of eggs. Loggerheads typically lay between 100-120 eggs in each nest!

Once she finishes laying her eggs, she uses her back flippers to gently put sand around the eggs, and then covers it to disguise it from predators by spreading lots of sand around with her front and back flippers. It’s 2:30 a.m. when she finishes and heads back to the ocean. She doesn’t leave a glass slipper behind, but she does leave a nest full of eggs that should hatch in approximately 60 days.

One week after Cinderella left her nest, tropical storm Beryl reached Vero Beach. With the large storm surge, Cinderella’s nest was washed over with waves, but don’t worry, the nest is doing just fine, with just a little seaweed as a reminder of how high the waves can reach during these tropical storms (perhaps her fairy godmother waved her magic wand!). We’ll do a follow-up post on the Disney Parks Blog in July and let you know how many hatchlings emerged!

Did you know?

• To help protect the sea turtles, Disney’s Animal Programs cast members monitor sea turtle nesting activity along the beach near Disney’s Vero Beach Resort. The research team surveys the beach every day during the summer, recording all new sea turtle nests, marking them and rechecking marked nests to determine how many hatchlings finally emerge. To find out more, check out this video:

• Guests at Disney’s Vero Beach Resort, Disney’s Animal Kingdom and The Seas with Nemo & Friends can help turtles by adopting a sea turtle nest. The adoption fee helps sea turtle conservation efforts in Florida through the Disney Worldwide Conservation Fund (DWCF). Guests receive an adoption certificate complete with the date of adoption, the date the nest was laid, the species of sea turtle, and the nest number (Cinderella’s nest number is CCN096); a Squirt keychain; and a Disney Worldwide Conservation Fund hero button. Since its inception in 1995, the DWCF has contributed more than $1.1 million to sea turtle research in 15 countries.

Tagged: Conservation, Video, WDW

Filed: Hotels & Resorts, Walt Disney World Resort

Here’s a story that been bubbling for a while… soaps and shampoos from Disney Resorts are getting a second life after their initial use through a partnership with Clean the World.

When we first shared this story in 2010, all Walt Disney World Resort hotels were participating in the program to collect, sanitize and repackage discarded bath amenities, which in turn are distributed to impoverished areas worldwide. Besides improving personal hygiene, the products help prevent illness and disease in children.

Clean the World efforts recently expanded to include Disney resorts and hotels in California and Hawaii, and the contributions are impressive. In just two years time, Disney has collected a whopping 53 tons of soap, which breaks down into 565,509 bars. Additionally, more than 33 tons of bottled amenities, such as shampoo and lotion, have been given to the cause.

The Disney soaps go global (from Haiti to India) and local, where they are put to use in homeless and domestic abuse shelters.

In addition to its preventive health benefits, this innovative recycling effort literally is making the world a cleaner place by reducing waste. Since participating in Clean the World, Disney has diverted nearly 87 tons of hotel waste from landfills.

Tagged: Conservation, DLR, WDW

Filed: Disneyland Resort, Walt Disney World Resort

So you don’t to have to wait until your next visit, yes, a tortoise is a turtle, but a turtle is not necessarily a tortoise (see fun fact below). You can find out all kinds of fascinating information and participate in a variety of activities for the whole family May 23 when Disney’s Animal Kingdom and The Seas with Nemo & Friends celebrate World Turtle Day.

At Disney’s Animal Kingdom, guests may see a turtle getting a veterinary exam, find out if they are smarter than a turtle, and get an up-close look at some of the turtles and tortoises that make their home at Disney’s Animal Kingdom and learn about how we care for them.

At The Seas with Nemo & Friends, sea turtles are the focus (naturally!). Guests can watch a sea turtle swimming gracefully by in the 5.7 million gallon saltwater main aquarium, learn about the conditions needed for sea turtles to nest successfully (did you know that female sea turtles return to the same beaches where they were hatched to lay their eggs?), and take part in an activity that follows a sea turtle hatchling on its journey to the sea, discovering how all of us can help to remove the obstacles that stand in its way.

I am very proud that the team at Disney’s Animal Kingdom and The Seas with Nemo & Friends celebrate and conserve turtles and tortoises every day. Over the years, for example, our animal care team has nursed more than 300 endangered sea turtles back to health and released them back to the wild. And since its inception, the Disney Worldwide Conservation Fund has directed more than $1.1 million to sea turtle conservation efforts through more than 27 nonprofit organizations worldwide.

All of us can help turtles and tortoises by taking action to reduce, reuse and recycle, by making sure that we dispose of trash properly, and by observing turtles and other wildlife from a safe distance, taking care not to disturb them or their habitats.

Fun Fact: The word “turtle” refers to all species of turtle, including freshwater and sea turtles, box turtles and tortoises. Tortoises are turtles that live on land.

Upcoming 2012 wildlife conservation events at Disney’s Animal Kingdom (as always, dates subject to change):

• June 6: Pollinator Day
• August: Cotton-Top Tamarin Month
• Sept. 5: International Vulture Awareness Day
• Sept. 26: Elephant Awareness Day
• Oct. 31: Bat Day

And at The Seas with Nemo & Friends, celebrate World Oceans Day on June 8.

For more from the “Wildlife Wednesdays” series, see the posts below:

• Wildlife Wednesdays: See ‘Spot’ Swim at The Seas with Nemo & Friends
• Wildlife Wednesdays: Walt Disney’s Words Tell Today’s Conservation Story
• Wildlife Wednesdays: Central Florida Kids Connect with Nature During a Special Day Camp at the Walt Disney World Resort

Tagged: Conservation, DAK, Epcot, WDW

Filed: Disney's Animal Kingdom, Epcot, Walt Disney World Resort

We are very pleased to announce that a white rhino calf, a boy (no name yet—the team is still deciding), was born May 4 at Disney’s Animal Kingdom. Disney photographer Gene Duncan stopped by to take some photos, and we’re happy to share them with you.

This birth was the fourth for mom, Kendi, a 13-year-old white rhino, who was the first rhino born at the park. A rhino birth is a significant event because at one time the species was nearly extinct. As a result of conservation efforts and careful management, the species has grown to number approximately 20,150 worldwide, with 215 residing in North American zoological parks.

The success of our white rhino breeding program has enabled our animal care team to make a direct contribution to the conservation of white rhinos in the wild. In 2006, Nande and Hasani, two rhinos born at Disney’s Animal Kingdom, traveled to Africa to join four others at Ziwa Sanctuary in Uganda, where they are helping to reestablish a population that had been extinct since the 1980s. In 2009, Nande became the first white rhino to give birth in Uganda in 27 years; she gave birth to a second calf last year.

Our new calf currently is bonding with mom in their backstage home and will join the other rhinos on the savanna of the Kilimanjaro Safaris in the coming weeks.

The Disney Worldwide Conservation Fund and the Disney Foundation have provided more than $1 million in support to programs in Africa and Asia to protect the last five remaining species of rhino.

Tagged: Conservation, DAK, WDW

Filed: Disney's Animal Kingdom, Walt Disney World Resort