Animal Kingdom Park: Animals moved indoors at night?

[perla75]

My mom was at Animal Kingdom Park a few weeks ago and a CM told my mom that all of the safari animals (& other animals) are moved indoors every night after park closing.

Is this true?? If so:

-How do they lure all the animals inside?
-Do they have buildings that fit giraffes?
-What are the indoor conditions? Do they still have their habitat conditions (dirt, rocks, greenery, etc...)
-did anyone learn anything about this during a DAK tour?

Thanks!

 

[Bounce_Tigger]

I can only speak for the safari animals (I worked on KSR)
-The animals do not HAVE to come inside, but most of them do - they are enticed by better food, and of course shelter from conditions. When they are inside, they have frequent check-ups to make sure they are healthy
-Yes, there are barns big enough for giraffes, and elephants, and rhinos, and every other animal. The animals are separated for the most part. I've never been inside any of the areas, but I know that the animals are well loved and cared for.
-Each animal has a "sound" that it is trained to respond to, a whistle, a clicker, a bell. When the animal care specialists make/play these sounds, the animals follow them inside. The animals are also very good at "knowing" what time it is. You'll often see the lions pacing on the rocks between 5-6pm - they're waiting to go inside!

I know there are a few DAK tours that take you backstage, but to the best of my knowledge, none of them will take you into any animal areas.

 

[perla75]

I can only speak for the safari animals (I worked on KSR)
-The animals do not HAVE to come inside, but most of them do - they are enticed by better food, and of course shelter from conditions. When they are inside, they have frequent check-ups to make sure they are healthy
-Yes, there are barns big enough for giraffes, and elephants, and rhinos, and every other animal. The animals are separated for the most part. I've never been inside any of the areas, but I know that the animals are well loved and cared for.
-Each animal has a "sound" that it is trained to respond to, a whistle, a clicker, a bell. When the animal care specialists make/play these sounds, the animals follow them inside. The animals are also very good at "knowing" what time it is. You'll often see the lions pacing on the rocks between 5-6pm - they're waiting to go inside!

I know there are a few DAK tours that take you backstage, but to the best of my knowledge, none of them will take you into any animal areas.

Thanks! I find this stuff so interesting! The barns must be huge!!
I have no doubt they are treated very well at night! DAK seems to have a great team of staff.

Are there security people in the park all night to monitor in case the animals get themselves into trouble?

Where do they take the people who take those tours?

 

[bradk]

a lot of the animals are cued by whistles and other sounds. but as mentioned, it's at their discretion. when DAK was newer, there was a giraffe that was struck and killed by lightning because it didn't go inside. and Disney hasn't changed its practice as a result, the animals are never forced to do anything and are only conditioned for husbandry purposes.

animals also have a good sense of timing too so they know when it's time to go inside. the giraffes actually start kicking their door to exit starting around 4:30 or so

the backstage safari will take you to a few of the animal locations. white rhino, giraffes and elephants are a few of them (your mileage will vary). in addition, conservation station has a series of cameras throughout the park that you can monitor and even control yourself and many of these are backstage in those areas (they're the same cameras used by staff, who can override the conservation station controls if need be). and of course even going to planet watch, you can see some of the facilities from the train.

and there are people on the safari all night long, most notably the horticulture department that has to bring out large lighting rigs and replant all of the vegetation that the animals ate throughout the day

also remember that not all animals are out all day. they have 2 pairs of lions for example, but only one pair will be out at any time. births are another time animals would be kept backstage

 

[myrtlepmur]

I took the tour in 2000 and we did go into the animal areas. I remember the building for the elephants and the giraffes. The buildings are huge. During the tour they told us that even though most of the animals wander in on their own every night they continue to use the individual "calls" for all of the animals so that they stay conditioned to them. This way they will always be able to call the animals in in the case of a hurricane or other disaster.

 

[maccagerl]

delete

 

[maccagerl]

Here is the Rhino Building. The Giraffe building is very tall! You can catch a glimpse of the animal buildings if you go on Rafikki's train to the Conservation Station at AK.

At AKL they leave the animals out on the savannah all day and all night- many of the animals are nocturnal and you can watch them with night vision goggles provided by the animal guides at the resort.
They bring the animals in for about 2 hours each morning just to check them for any injuries and to feed them a special nutrient food just to make sure they are getting proper nutrition.
As the pp said, the animals are trained to respond to certain sounds to call them, but they know what time they are usually called and often start heading to the animal building before even being called.

 

[bradk]

there may be other animals during the night-time viewing at AKL, but i recall mostly giraffes and they're actually diurnal. the night-time viewing happens to be before bedtime, just like it is for the humans. in fact, one of the creepiest things i've ever seen is giraffes late at night (they sleep standing up). i did a midnight walking tour at the national zoo in dc and will never forget seeing them just all standing there.. frozen

 

[maccagerl]

there may be other animals during the night-time viewing at AKL, but i recall mostly giraffes and they're actually diurnal. the night-time viewing happens to be before bedtime, just like it is for the humans. in fact, one of the creepiest things i've ever seen is giraffes late at night (they sleep standing up). i did a midnight walking tour at the national zoo in dc and will never forget seeing them just all standing there.. frozen

I really love the giraffes! There is something that is so relaxing about watching them. I loved seeing them with the baby giraffe, too. So cute!

 

[Jillpie]

Bradk, fascinating and enlightening posting, thank you for all this information that I never knew! Makes me consider going on an AK tour, in the future. Oh, are the gorillas part of it, I love them.

 

[disnut8]

If you have a pet, watch them. They know what time it is. We have four cats right now after having other cats and dogs for our entire married life (27 years). Our one cat will get up on our bed headboard every single morning at 5:45. The alarm is set for 6:00 and he knows it. At 6:15, he jumps down (on top of me since I'm still in bed).

Dogs know when their people are coming home from work. Dogs even know when school buses are scheduled to bring the kids home.

It's all part of the routine they get themselves into so the animals at Animal Kingdom are no different.

 

[DrDeb]

thanks for the thread an interesting Sunday morning read

 

[disneybridetobe]

Our one cat will get up on our bed headboard every single morning at 5:45. The alarm is set for 6:00 and he knows it. At 6:15, he jumps down (on top of me since I'm still in bed).

I just have to giggle... we too have a feline alarm clock! He gets very upset if he thinks you're oversleeping. Poor thing still doesn't "get" weekends. LOL.