The Blind Site

In another part of the Pangani Forest, visitors come across an observation blind, a camouflaged site built to allow researchers to observe forest animals without disturbing them. If you're super quiet, you might just spot one of the rarest creatures of all, an okapi.

The okapi, a relative of the giraffe, is native to the Ituri Forest region of Zaire in Central Africa. So what are they doing in Harambe? Inspection of the details on this board in the observation blind gives us some clues.

This newspaper clipping reveals that three okapis were transplanted to Harambe from Zaire as part of an effort to establish a viable East African population. In their native land, okapis are threatened by habitat destruction and civil unrest. The Harambe Wildlife Reserve can potentially offer a safer environment for them.

The board also includes a letter to Pangani's Dr. Kulunda from the head of the (fictional) Ituri Okapi Project, Igwe Olugu. Olugu's letter gives Dr. Kulunda (and us) some additional information about okapi diet and behavior.

Two researchers working with Olugu on the Okapi Project are spending time in Harambe, observing how the okapis are adapting to their new environment. Apti, a native of Kenya, and Omari, a Harambean, have been documenting everything they've seen. Their notes and photos can be seen in the field note clipboards found in the blind.

For those wishing to learn more about the okapi, plan to attend Dr. Kulunda's lecture on the subject this Sunday. He'll be sharing slides of okapis taken in the Ituri Forest and discussing everything from their rump patterns to the evolutionary divergence between okapis and giraffes. The lecture will be held in the Research Centre. As the flier states, "Prayers for the generator are highly encouraged!"

Pieced together, all of this tells a fantastically detailed story and adds to the overall fabric of the storytelling environment on the Pangani Forest Exploration Trail attraction.

The real story as to why there are okapis at Disney's Animal Kingdom is actually somewhat similar. The inclusion of the animals came at the suggestion of Rick Barongi, former Director of Disney's Animal Programs. Barongi had previously been Curator of Mammals for the San Diego Zoo, where he had done extensive work on okapi conservation. When he joined Disney as part of the park's first Advisory Board, he had a passion for establishing a population of okapis here and arranged for animals to be sent to Florida from San Diego.

Today, Rick Barongi is Director of the Houston Zoological Gardens, where he has established yet another population of okapis. As an accredited member of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums, Disney's Animal Kingdom works in cooperation with the teams in Houston, San Diego and around the world to ensure the future survival of okapis and other endangered species.

Gone to Rehab

Just inside the Pangani Forest sanctuary, the path leads us to the Endangered Animal Rehabilitation Centre. Here, the research team has brought in a group of Angolan Black & White Colobus Monkeys, rescued from a threatened area. The goal is to rehabilitate the animals so they might be reintroduced to the wild.

The researchers assigned to the Centre are making notes and recording observations. They have plenty of supplies on hand, including coffee and insect repellant, to keep up their work around the clock.

One of the Colobus Monkeys here recently gave birth (you can just see the baby's face peeking out from under its mother's fur in the 2nd photo above). The team has been documenting every bit of activity, from the mother's interactions to behavioral changes with the rest of the group. Their observations are shared on bulletins and chalk boards all around the area.

Rehabilitation of a threatened species is just one of the stories being told on the Pangani Forest Exploration Trail. While it may be part of the fiction of Harambe, though, the reintroduction of species to wild areas is also among the real work being conducted by the Animal Programs team at Disney's Animal Kingdom. To read more about their efforts and a success story of reintroducing white rhinos, follow this link.

Visitors, Welcome to Pangani Forest

Located in a densely forested area of the Harambe Wildlife Reserve is the Pangani Forest Exploration Trail ("pangani" is a Swahili word that means "place of spirits" or "enchanted"). Pangani Forest is a wildlife sanctuary and research facility, but also contains a conservation school that is open to the public.

The Imagineers were inspired to create the Pangani Forest Conservation School and Wildlife Sanctuary by their visit to a real facility in Kenya, the William Holden Wildlife Education Center. Founded by actor William Holden (Sunset Boulevard, Sabrina, The Bridge on the River Kwai, Network) in the 1960s, the Center serves to educate local people about the value of wildlife and how best to conserve it.

The motto of Pangani Forest Conservation School is that of its Director, Dr. K. Kulunda: "We do not inherit the earth from our parents - we only borrow is from our children."

Dr. Kulunda, of course, is a fictional character created for the attraction. Interestingly, his first name is never identified. My personal theory is that his name is Kevin. Kevin Brown was the lead Imagineering Concept Writer on the Disney's Animal Kingdom project and did nearly all of the writing for Africa. I had the opportunity to work closely with Kevin when we opened Animal Kingdom, during which time he shared with me many of the back stories and inside references found throughout the park. When I asked where his own tribute could be found, he always got very humble and changed the subject. I've always suspected that Dr. K. Kulunda and my friend Kevin Brown are one in the same.

Another note about the graphic above: When the park opened, Pangani Forest was entitled Gorilla Falls Exploration Trail. The name was changed after it was observed that Guests to the attraction were blowing past all the other exhibits just to get to the gorillas. The change was made on almost every sign. In the one pictured above, though, it was changed in the English version, but not the Swahili. "Nyani Falls" refers to the original name of the attraction.

Throughout the Pangani Forest, researchers have built a series of observation blinds, outposts and overlooks for the study of the native wildlife. This is still a wild habitat, however, so signs along the way help establish some of the ground rules, advising Guests to stay on the marked paths and keep an eye out for animals. Tracks on the ground and sounds coming from the forest further the impression that wild creatures could be anywhere.

There may be some inherent dangers here, but there is also incredible opportunity to see and appreciate native animals in a completely natural habitat.

Kuwa Macho Kwa Wajangili

"Kuwa macho kwa wajangili. Grow eyes for poachers."

This is Warden Wilson Mutua's call to action, not just for his team of reserve wardens but for everyone traveling through the Harambe Wildlife Reserve. Only by working together can we keep the threat of poaching at bay.

During our adventure on Kilimanjaro Safaris, a group of poachers are spotted on the reserve. As the truck reaches Magadi Gate ("magadi" means "guard"), we see that it's been smashed through. Wilson reaches out to us for help. Follow the poachers so the wardens can cut them off. Our truck is about to leave the protected boundary of the reserve.

It quickly becomes all too obvious that safari tours are not meant to be here. We descend into the gorge, where geysers erupt from hot springs all around us.

Coming up on the other side, we stumble upon the poachers' camp and some of their illegally obtained tusks and horns.

Ultimately, the poachers are surrounded and taken into custody. The baby elephant they had abducted (the one animal in the entire attraction that isn't real) has been recovered and will soon be reunited with its mother.

Warden Mutua thanks us for our help, but now what? We are way off the beaten path, and until the borders of the reserve are secured, further safari tours have been suspended. Our guide decides to drop us off at the safest place, a nearby Warden Post.

To ease our transition off the truck, the guide pulls up alongside an old wooden loading dock. These docks date back to Harambe's colonial period, but are still in use today. Ranches in the area truck their cattle here to offload them and escort them around the bend to the train station for transport elsewhere. Look closely, and you'll even spot the name of the transportation concern that works with the ranchers: Smythe-Wallis British East Africa Livestock Ltd.

Stepping away from the cattle chutes, we find ourselves safely at Warden Post #4. One of the wardens' jeeps has just pulled up, loaded down with items seized from the arrested poachers.

Poaching of ivory, hides, rhino horns and other wildlife contraband is a major concern throughout Africa. A growing, often poor population will sometimes turn to poaching as an easy way to make money and put food on the table.

Demand for these illegal goods comes from other countries, including the U.S., but there can be even greater demand for seeing these animals alive and well in the wild. In Harambe, eco-tourism has proven to be a boon to the economy.

The Lay of the Land

In the story of Harambe, the Harambe Wildlife Reserve is said to be 800 square miles. In actuality, Kilimanjaro Safaris is not quite that large, but it does cover a substantial amount of land. At about 140 acres, the entire Magic Kingdom Park could fit within the borders of this single attraction, with room to spare. That includes 100 acres for the safari itself and 40 acres north of the ride path (visible from some areas, but not accessible by the trucks) that help create the illusion that the savanna goes on forever.

Close inspection of a map of the Harambe Wildlife Reserve reveals many of the places actually visited during the course of the Kilimanjaro Safaris adventure, along with a few which have been thrown in just to make it appear as though the reserve extends beyond the borders of the theme park.

Safari vehicles leave the Departure Base to the south and head through the forest toward the Safi River, a popular spot for herds of hippopotami. The Serikali Bridge (below) is one of the landmarks pointed out on the map. The word "serikali" means "government." This was a bridge funded by the state to provide easier access to the savanna areas of the reserve. The bridge has definitely seen better days, though. It creaks and groans under the weight of the Tembo Trucks, as a pile of crocodiles waits below.

Once across the river, the trucks head into the Ndege ("bird") Hills for a spectacular view of the savanna and one of the reserve's ancient Baobab trees (artificial, remember?).

Although the Baobabs on the savanna are fake, the vast majority of the foliage here is real and was transplanted to the site during the construction of Disney's Animal Kingdom. One exception is this stand of trees (below). Known internally as "Tree Save," the oaks in this area of the safari were already here. To make them fit the African landscape, the oak trees were pruned to look more like acacia (the giraffes do their part to keep them that way).

On a trip through the savanna, everything appears completely authentic, but there is plenty of artifice. Elements have been created here and there to help give the area a look that is more distinctly African than Floridian.

The termite mounds (below), for example, are concrete but made to look just like the real thing. Termites create the mounds with a combination of earth and saliva, and they can get as hard as rock. Elephants and other animals like to rub up against them to, as Warden Mutua would put it, "scratch their itchy backsides!"

The artists at Walt Disney Imagineering also sculpted the roadway on which the safari vehicles travel. It only looks like dirt or mud, but is actually reinforced concrete. Each Tembo Truck weighs something in the neighborhood of sixteen tons and would sink into a real earthen road.

The roadway is particularly interesting in the places where it's made to appear as though the trucks are trudging through shallow water. Here, the sculpted ruts not only add a dramatic look, but also serve a purpose. They keep the "show water" through which the vehicles travel separate from the treated water that is part of the animals' environment.

There are also several places along the path where the road appears to go in different directions. Some of these alternate routes serve an operational purpose while others don't, but they're all accounted for on the map of the reserve. Riding through, be on the lookout for these roads, along with markers pointing the way to places like Tumbili Tented Camp or Wingu Kopjes.

Soon, the safari trucks pass the red clay pits and into elephant territory. Disney's Animal Kingdom has one of the largest and finest facilities for African elephants in the world, with more than six acres of natural habitat. That acreage is spread across three different onstage areas which can be connected or separated. The bridge above, for example, leads from one area to another and can be closed off if needed.

This functionality has allowed the Animal Programs team to conduct groundbreaking studies in elephant communication. At times, it has also enabled having a matriarchal herd in one area and a lone bull in another, just as they would be in the wild. As a result of this and other efforts, Disney's Animal Kingdom has been extraordinarily successful in breeding African elephants.

Moving on past the Zamani Rock Paintings ("zamani" translates as "former" or "ancient"), the trucks emerge onto the Kifaru Plains, home to a population of white rhinos (is it any surprise that "kifaru" is Swahili for "rhinoceros").

At the southern edge of the plains are Wingu ("cloud") Kopjes. Pronounced "copies," kopjes are rounded rock outcroppings found in the savannas of eastern Africa. Wingu Kopjes are a popular destination for safari guides, since they're often frequented by lions.

At this point, having spotted several of Harambe's marquee animal species, most safari tours would make their way back to the Departure Base and call it a day. However, should you find yourself out with a guide who goes by the call sign "Simba One," fate may have other plans...