©Disney
It’s a boy! The baby boom continues at Disney’s Animal Kingdom as the team of zoological experts and cast members of the park welcome a new white rhino calf to their herd.
Cast members bid, “Afya njema!” to wish the newest baby calf at Disney’s Animal Kingdom“good health” in Swahili.
A white rhino born at Disney’s Animal Kingdom in 2005 became a first-time mom giving birth to a healthy baby boy. The new baby’s grandmother was also born at the park and regularly roams the savannahs of the Harambe Wildlife Reserve, making this new calf the third generation of white rhinos born here.
The new mom is naturally being very protective of her baby boy but the animal care team is keeping up with mother and child to assure that both are thriving.
©Disney
Despite their name, white rhinos are actually grey in color and sport two horns on their large head. These horns are made of fibrous keratin, just like our fingernails. While rhinos have good hearing and sense of smell, they have poor vision and cannot discern a motionless person at a distance of more than 100 feet.
Native to central and southern Africa, the white rhino loves grassy areas and will graze several times a day. This mild-mannered animal usually keeps its family group small and tightly-knit. Rhinos are born weighing up to 143 pounds. Full-grown females will grow to be anywhere from 3,000 to 4,000 pounds while adult males can be up to 5,000 pounds.
This new rhino calf is the ninth white rhino born at Disney’s Animal Kingdom. While conservationists at the Animal Kingdom are happy to see their herd of rhinos continue to grow, this unfortunately, has not been the case in the wild. Last year, rhinos faced the worst poaching in history, leaving the northern white rhino extinct in the wild. Its cousin in the south, appropriately named the southern white rhino, is severely endangered and without continued conservation efforts, will meet the same fate.
Several cast members at Disney’s Animal Kingdom are board members for the International Rhino Foundation (IRF) and work closely in efforts to help protect rhinos in the wild. The Disney Worldwide Conservation Fund(DWCF) also contributes to rhino conservation, research and habitat protection projects for rhinos throughout the world.
There are several ways guests can contribute to the conservation efforts going on throughout the park. Guests can add a dollar to purchases, purchase a sponsored pin or merchandise item, enjoy the Wild Africa Trek excursion at Disney’s Animal Kingdom or snorkel at The Seas with Nemo & Friends in Epcot to contribute to Disney’s efforts. Every donation, big or small, adds up and is combined with support from Disney.
The celebration of the newest baby birth will continue for months to come and if you are planning on a visit to Disney’s Animal Kingdom in the future, be sure to be on the lookout for both mom and baby as they join rest of the herd on the savannahs of Kilimanjaro Safaris over the next few months.
Visit www.capturing-the-magic.com for a preview of the stunning coffee table book, Capturing the Magic and purchase your copy today.
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