[Park Hopper]

A feel-good story from Wednesday morning's Orlando newspaper:

Three of the shy, striped, bongo antelopes that roam Disney's Animal Kingdom are bound for Kenya this morning, part of an international effort to return the nearly extinct creature to its native land.

Eighteen captive-bred bongos, half of them from Florida, will board a DC-8 cargo plane in Jacksonville at 10 a.m. The animals from 13 zoos and conservation parks are due to arrive 32 hours later at the Mount Kenya Game Ranch in the middle of the eastern African nation. The wildlife preserve at the foothills of the unique rain forest will become a sanctuary where the bongos can live, breed and, hopefully, be released into the wild in about 10 years.

"It's rare to get an opportunity to make such a dramatic contribution to conservation," Sharon Joseph, mammal curator at Animal Kingdom, said Tuesday. "We get to save a species."

[Dana]

Glad they are so excited about doing the right thing. Very feel good story. Thanks Park Hopper. You know I always look forward to your news.

[Quidam]

I recently took the Backstage Safari at AK and was impressed with the level of commitment to the care and long term planning for the animals. AK belongs to a global network of zoological organizations dedicated to the preservation and proliferation of animals. I asked about the economics of the programs and was pleased to hear that Disney is very generous with their funding and support.

[MickeyMac]

When we were there in October, we got a small private tour from one of the guides. She explained in detail the process Disney *must* go through in order to send the animals overseas. They are quarantined for a period of months before heading over, and again on the return trip. Disney incurs this expense, which I was surprised by, and uses the monies from the conservation fund to do so. I wish I could remember all the details she told me - it was so fascinating.

They are also working on a project within the aviary with an endangered species that is thriving within their environment. If you ever get over to Asia, make sure to stop and talk to any CM's within the aviary. Some of them might be veterenarians or research scientists. (we hit one of each on our October trip)

[Storm59]

Originally posted by MickeyMac
When we were there in October, we got a small private tour from one of the guides.

What part did you tour?

[MickeyMac]

Way in the back of the resort, where the Uzima and the Arusha savannah animals enter the gates. We remained on the fire escape (anyone can go back there - we just went with a Savannah Guide who was a wealth of information)

It was really neat seeing how the trainers work with the animals without really getting close to them. Even neater was to wath the different animal behaviors, and hear stories about what the animals do within their groupings. The animals gather there around 11/1:30 in the morning - they know right when they open the gates, and will wait patiently (and not so patiently) there.

[Storm59]

Originally posted by MickeyMac
Way in the back of the resort, where the Uzima and the Arusha savannah animals enter the gates. We remained on the fire escape (anyone can go back there - we just went with a Savannah Guide who was a wealth of information)

I'll have to try to find time to check it out. It's our first visit to AKL and it seems there is so much to do at the Lodge, it'll be an effort to find time to go to the parks!! ;)