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Because we had to be at AK by 8:15 to check in for our tour, and
we knew we would have to go through security, we decided to drive
to the park. We made it in plenty of time. We met our tour guide,
Paul, just outside the entrance gates of the park.
Due to the change in park hours, we were concerned how this would
impact our tour and had called WDW prior to our trip to inquire.
We were told that rather than entering the park (which wouldn’t
be open yet) to catch the train to the Conservation Station, we
were to meet our guide outside the park instead. After showing ID
to ensure we really were ourselves, and then filling out a nametag
to wear, we had a few minutes to watch people arrive for their breakfast
PS at Donald’s Restaurantosaurus. The CM greeting diners (and
herding them into the correct line for the restaurant) was a nut!
She kept making quacking noises at all the kids, making them giggle!
She told us that the highlight of her day is making kids –
and adults – smile!
Once our group was together (ultimately there were 18, however
2 were quite late), we were taken into the park and through one
of the forbidden “CM Only” gates! Cool! Here we met
another CM who works in Disney’s educational department. We
were divided into 2 groups, loaded into vans, and driven to the
first stop on our safari. The drive was kinda neat since we got
to take access roads available only to Disney staff. We got to see
the park from the “back” side!
Our first stop was at the rhino barn where we met Nicole, one of
the handlers. Before letting us into one of the enclosures, we had
to place the bottom of our shoes into a pan containing some sort
of disinfectant or something, designed to help protect against hoof
and mouth disease, I think. Then she walked us over to a pen containing
a rather large white rhino named Samson, or “Sam” for
short. She told us lots of information about rhinos and was quite
open to answering our many questions. We were even allowed to “pet”
Sam (even though we had been told when we called to book the tour
that we would NOT be allowed to touch the animals)! His hide was
thick and tough like that of an elephant. However, when I touched
him lightly, as urged by Nicole, I could feel the finest hairs growing
from that tough hide!
We learned that Sam, and all the rhinos, love alfalfa! Nicole was
carrying a bucket full of alfalfa and Sam kept nudging her, begging
for more bites! He was like a big dog begging for treats! When she
ran out, Sam walked over to where Paul was standing and began begging
him! He was so ugly he was cute!
We also learned the signs to watch for showing you when a rhino
is getting ready to spray. Trust me, we all were very attentive
during that part of the talk! Nicole had noticed that every time
Sam turned around with his hindquarters “facing” the
fence, we all backed off – heck, we had seen him spray in
a different direction and none of us wanted to be caught in the
“line of fire”, so to speak! She told us that we could
tell when he was going to spray by watching his hind feet. He would
begin to drag them in the dirt just prior to spraying.
On the other side of where Sam was being kept was another enclosure
housing both a mother and a baby white rhino. The baby, who was
several months old, was named Harley. He was still nursing, so he
wasn’t being allowed out on the savannah just yet. Although
it would have been nice to pet him, his mother was very protective
and it would have been dangerous. However, it was fun watching him
dash about his enclosure, playing with a ball and with a plastic
pan. Nicole told us how the rhinos like to punch holes in the bottom
of the plastic pans and then pick them up with their horns and fling
them like Frisbees!
After dipping our shoe bottoms into the pan of disinfectant again,
we headed over to the elephant barn. Although there were no elephants
in the barn, Paul told us quite a bit about WDW’s philosophy
on animal husbandry and about “enrichment”. We learned
that elephants LOVE sweet potatoes and would do nearly anything,
including giving blood or getting a shot, just to get a chunk of
sweet potato! So chunks of sweet potato, along with a “clicker”
(a little device that makes a clicking noise) and a pole with a
soft end, are used to teach the elephants to display various body
parts so that the vets and handlers can examine the animal. Elephants
are taught to touch the end of the stick with their foot or their
trunk – whatever part needs to be examined. When the elephant
touches the object, or even attempts to touch it, the animal is
rewarded with sweet potato. WDW does not believe in negative reinforcement
and they do not hit or otherwise abuse the animals. They believe
that enrichment enhances the lives of the animals, making them easier
to work with and making them happier.
We also got to hold a piece of elephant tusk that broke off one
of the elephants while he was playing. One of the male elephants
apparently feels that it is his duty and responsibility to knock
down the trees in his area of the savannah. And every night after
the animals have come back into their enclosures, the grounds people
have to go back out and reset the trees! We were also shown a particular
type of nut, the Tagua nut, that when carved, is nearly indistinguishable
from ivory. This nut grows in the rain forest, and farmers who would
normally cut down the trees to create more farmland, are being paid
to protect the rain forest and the trees growing these nuts.
As we left the elephant barn, we walked past an elephant enclosure
where Mackey, a big bull elephant, was hanging out. Like the rhinos,
elephants like to play. Mackey had a couple of tires that he liked
to lift and throw. However, he was able to fling them outside the
high walls of his enclosure. So they used a large metal rod to hook
the tires together – sort of like a very large dumbbell. And
as big and heavy as it was, he could still lift it with his trunk!
Next we got to meet a couple of handlers who were working with
a Rothschild’s giraffe. They were trying to get him used to
being around them. He kept poking his head over the fence, which
had to be at least 12 foot tall! One of the handlers was up on a
large ladder feeding him carrots, which he seemed to love! Rothschild’s
giraffes look very similar to reticulated giraffes except that the
markings on a Rothschild giraffe are not solid in color. They contain
a colored spot inside. The white spaces between spots are larger.
They also have five blunt, short horn-like structures on their heads.
We were allowed to touch some hair that had fallen out of a giraffe’s
tail. It was very course, nearly like wire! When you take the Kilimanjaro
Safari ride, you will see reticulated giraffes. The fellow we met,
the Rothschild's giraffe, is the only one they have of his type
so far.
We were taken to a training center where we were provided with
bottles of water and various snacks (as well as restroom facilities).
This was a welcome break before heading back out to learn and see
more!
Next we headed over to the food preparation area. Meals are prepared
for each animal according to a very strict menu. We watched one
person preparing a container that she filled with wonderful looking
fruits and veggies. Another station had someone weighing frozen
mice, rats and chickens and putting the appropriate amount into
containers for the carnivorous animals. Shelves around the area
held many common food items that you might have in your cabinets
or pantry - things like Cheerios, peanut butter, spices, oatmeal,
and baby food… Often these foods may show up in an animals’
diet, or may be given as a treat.
We were taken “on stage” in the Conservation Station.
We went into the various examining rooms and surgeries. We met several
technicians, and while we were there, a bird was being operated
on! On the other side of the surgery area were the windows where
park guests look in on the surgery! John and I both remember being
on that side of the glass and wondering if the people we could see
across the way were new CMs receiving training. Now we know they
were people taking the Backstage Safari!
Back in the training room we were introduced to another handler
who had brought along “Turbo”, a Red-Rumped Agouti.
Agoutis are large rodents with short tails, and look like an extremely
large Guinea Pig. Because he had been hand-raised, he was fairly
tame and we were allowed to pet him. However, liquid hand cleaner
was provided to everyone that petted Turbo since he exudes a very
musky smell. This was a good opening for Paul to discuss conservation.
Many WDW employees save their toilet paper rolls, paper towel rolls,
newspaper, and plastic bottles and bring them in to be given to
the animals. Agoutis love to chew, and toilet paper rolls filled
with peanut butter make a fine treat for them. By the time they
have finished with it, it is little more than small scraps of cardboard!
We were shown a short film showing WDW’s animal husbandry
techniques. And Paul, who had video taped the film, also talked
to us about enrichment, which is how animals are provided ways to
have fun and are kept from being bored. For example, WDW uses large,
hollow gray balls, some with holes drilled into them. Since many
primates love peanut butter, the ball may be filled with it and
then given to the primate. Not only do they enjoy playing with the
ball, they also like to get at the peanut butter and eat it, sometimes
using sticks or other long objects to reach way inside the ball!
Paul showed us the remains of one of these balls – one that
had been a play toy for the tigers! There wasn’t a lot left,
and what was left was covered with tooth marks! We were told that
every time you see an animal pacing back and forth in its cage or
enclosure, that animal is probably bored. WDW seems to go above
and beyond in their attempts to keep their animals happy and healthy.
Paul passed around one of these balls. Holes had been drilled into
it and he had put miniature Snicker bars inside. This was to be
our “enrichment”! Could we figure out how to retrieve
a Snickers bar??? How long would it keep us occupied?
He told us a funny story about the lions you see when you take
the Safari ride. Although you can’t see it, there is a very
deep trench between the rocks and the road. This is what keeps the
lions away from the other animals – and park guests! The male
lion kept going down into the trench to swim on hot days. I guess
people were complaining that they never got to see lions on this
attraction. So some very imaginative people that WDW employ sat
down and brainstormed a way to keep the lion out of the trench.
They air-conditioned the rock! Well, this made the lion happy, and
he stayed on his rock. However, after a while he got bored with
this and went swimming again! After some trial and error, these
same imaginative people came up with a “treat” for the
lion to help keep him on his air-conditioned rock – a “bunny
pop”! Yes, folks, they freeze a dead rabbit in a big block
of ice. The block of ice is then impaled on some type of metal pipe
to hold it in place behind the rock so people taking the Safari
can't see it. Every so often the lion will turn around and take
a big lick of his "bunny pop"! He doesn't get one every
day. This is his treat - and he only gets one occasionally! Yum.
NOTE: No live animals are given to any of the animals to eat - the
exception being crickets, mealworms and other bugs.
Before we left, we were each given an evaluation to fill out. Not
only did we rate the tour and the guide, we were also allowed to
write about our favorite, or least favorite, part of the tour. We
could make suggestions on ways to improve the tour. Then we were
each given a book that you can purchase at the park for around $12,
and we were given a special Backstage Safari pin! Paul explained
to those individuals who don’t collect pins that these particular
pins have value since you cannot buy them anywhere. You have to
take the Backstage Safari to get one! And he told them that if a
pin collector approached them, offering to trade them a pin from
their lanyard, be sure to get more than one pin in trade! Most pins
at the park cost between $5 and $16. We each paid about $65 to take
the tour. He wanted to ensure that anyone trading his or her Safari
pin got his or her money’s worth!
For those of you who have never taken any of WDW’s Backstage
Tours, this is a great one! But, like many others, you must be at
least 16 to take this tour. I can also highly recommend the Keys
to the Kingdom Tour at MK.
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