Where has the time gone? Disney’s Animal Kingdom is about to celebrate its 25th anniversary!
Animal Kingdom
This celebration is featuring unique foods, meet and greets, and more! They’re also celebrating the animals that have called Animal Kingdom home since the park opened on Earth Day in 1998.
Disney shared that there are 45 animals that have been in Animal Kingdom since the park opened in 1998 and some of them even came a year prior to opening day. Let’s meet these iconic animals!
©Disney
First up, we have Gino, a western lowland gorilla. Disney shared that Gino is “not only the oldest gorilla at Disney’s Animal Kingdom at 42 and the silverback of the family troop, but he’s also a pioneer and ambassador for his species.” His caretakers are able to perform cardiac ultrasounds on Gino without anesthesia, and this has “enabled his keepers to train and develop important techniques which benefit gorillas in managed care around the world.”
Gino enjoys wrestling with his sons and is also an “attentive father to his daughters, Grace and Ada.” Other gorillas who have been in Animal Kingdom since 1997 include Kejana, Zawadi, and Gus!
©Disney
Jack and Jill, a pair of miniature donkeys, are also long-time residents of the park. This pair like to do everything together, and they can be found at Affection Section at Rafiki’s Planet Watch. They have customized halters and can “demonstrate how donkeys in Colombia would carry small trees in their saddles to help replenish South American rainforests where endangered cotton-top tamarins live.”
©Disney
Johnny, a white stork, lives on Discovery Island. His habitat is located right by the Tree of Life, so Disney reports that “Johnny often has inadvertently photobombed guests for 25 years” at the popular photo spot.
Johnny stands over three feet tall and has a wingspan of over five feet.
©Disney
Tuma is a Nile hippopotamus, who has young ones of her own. She and four other members of the hippo bloat have been at Animal Kingdom for all 25 years of the park’s existence. Tuma is affectionately known as “Tuma Toes” because of some pink spots near her toes.
Disney shared that “Tuma was just over a year old when she arrived at Disney’s Animal Kingdom three months before the park opened to guests in 1998, and now she’s a proud mom to five-year-old Augustus and nearly-two-year-old Greta.”
©Disney
These are just a few of the long-time residents of Animal Kingdom. Stick around for all the latest on Animal Kingdom as they celebrate this weekend and more!
Click here to learn more about Disney’s Animal Kingdom.
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I’m an animal lover, so whenever I can get to Disney World I always have to see Animal Kingdom. It’s absolutely amazing to see all of the animals there. 😊