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Anytime news breaks about Disney’s Animal Kingdom, you’ll see it here. I’m a total animal lover and so I keep a close watch on happenings at what just might be my favorite park at Disney World. I know I can’t really say it’s my favorite part of Disney World given that I’ve never been there, and it’s strange to consider that it might be something having nothing to do with fairy tales or fantasy, but I read about stories like this and I can’t help but love what I hear about the Animal Kingdom.
At the beginning of June senior research biologist for the Animal Kingdom Dr. Tammie Bettinger announced on the Disney Parks blog her workplace’s involvement in helping orphan gorillas. Due to illegal poaching the number of orphaned eastern gorillas in Africa is sadly growing, and Disney’s doing something to help.
Over the past year conservationists in the Democratic Republic of Congo have worked on constructing GRACE, the Gorilla Rehabilitation and Conservation Education Center. Specialists from Disney’s Animal Kingdom have partnered with the Pan African Sanctuary Alliance to get the center up and running, backed in part by funding from the Disney Worldwide Conservation Fund.
Even though construction is still underway on GRACE, thanks in part to the initial opening costs covered by Disney, the first four orphaned gorillas arrived at the reserve last month. On hand at the time were Joe Christman and Sam Berner, animal care experts from Disney’s Animal Kingdom.
Gorillas at GRACE stay until their adolescence. At that point they need to start moving between different social groups. GRACE is strategically located close to the Tayna Nature Reserve in the DRC, so that when the gorillas age and need to start interacting with a wider range of peers, it will be easy for GRACE’s workers to move them.
I think I’ve said this before, but I am a total sucker for animal stories, particularly ones that have to do with rescue and conservation. Hearing that Disney has a hand in conservation acts reminds me that while I often have criticisms to level at the Mouse Company, there are also many things about Disney that I really like. Obviously, this is one of them.
In addition to providing a home for orphan gorillas, GRACE also serves to employ a large portion of the local community in its area. So this really is a facility I can get behind.
By the time I publish this article Dr. Tammie Bettinger, whose blog post first alerted me to GRACE’s existence, will have traveled to the DRC to help with the introduction of six new orphan gorillas to the reserve. I wish her, her team, everyone at GRACE, and especially the orphaned gorillas all the best, and hope that Disney keeps supporting such great conservation efforts in the future.
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*(This image by belgianchocolate is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.5 License.)
