Kilimanjaro Safari lion?????

[fan4life]

The last 4 times i rode the ks the lion was alway up on the hill asleep.
Question is he real or fake? Has anyone ever seen him up and awake?

Our guide said he sleeps all day...but i gotta wonder?

 

[princezB]

I just got back and he was up on the hill. The guide says that he is nocturnal and hunts at night. I got a great picture though...I highly recommend being the first car out!!!

 

[LisaInNc]

I have seen him up once in all the Safaris I have been on the rest of the time he looked like a throw rug!

 

[Feralpeg]

The lions are very real. The reason they tend to stay on the rock is because cool air is pumped into that area. Disney did that on purpose to get the lions to stay where they are visable to folks on the safari. If they didn't do this, the lions would lay down in shaded areas and people would not be able to see them.

 

[J.C.&ALI'SMOM]

I have seen the lions move, the female more often. The guides are right, lions sleep most of the day. If we get a glimpse of them we feel lucky.

 

[marathonmommy]

If you do a search on the DIS, you may come across a photo a DISer posted of the lion "having relations". He is definitely real!

 

[bradk]

Disney actually has 4 lions (2 of each gender) but only 2 are out at any time.

the rocks can be heated or cooled depending on the weather. believe it or not, african weather can be much more forgiving than orlando's.

add to that the fact that cats tend to sleep 18 hours a day on average and seeing them being active is a relative rarity (as a rule, the animals tend to be more active when it's cooler or after it rains).

i did have a couple of positive experiences with the lions at DAK. the most recent was catching one of them on the back of pride rock (where there's a heater) as i was on the train to rafiki's planet watch

and of course my other experience at conservation station, watching them pull a couple of teeth from one of the male lions

(i posted about that experience with more pics here: http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1380121 )

now.. the cheetahs on the other hand... never had any much luck with them

 

[SnwflkCts]

Although BRADK already said it -- take it from someone who lives with four small cat varieties (non-lion size though they eat like them) -- most of the time they are asleep ... except for when YOU want to sleep ... then they are ready for playing or petting or purring.

Right now ... floor beside computer -- Peanut Butter asleep ... futon behind me -- Jelly Bean asleep ... couch in living room -- Maddie asleep. Snowflake is the only one that goes outside but he is on the stoop ... asleep.

Same goes for the lions ...... but they are sooo darn cute too!!!!

Good question though!!! Now just don't ask if the termite hills are real -- or the ostrich eggs.

 

[marathonmommy]

Yep, Brad is very correct about the activity levels during the day . . .

I was lucky enough to go on an actual African Safari last summer (their winter.) The lions, for the most part, sat around during the day and were active at night. It was cooler when we were there during the day, but I don't even think it has a lot to do with heat. They hunt and are most active at night. That is what they are programed to do. They conserve energy during the day and roam around at night.

 

[joshsmom]

I can't remember which trip it was, but we were SO excited because the lion on the rock raised his head and opened his mouth. We thought "oh COOL--here it comes--a great BIG roar!!!!" To our dismay, he was only yawning!

 

[bradk]

it's actually exactly why the jungle cruise (almost) never had real animals. as the story goes. walt wanted real animals on it but was convinced otherwise when he was advised that the animals couldn't care less about being an attraction and would spend their time sleeping and doing other uncontrollable actions.

 

[artesian]

I just got back and he was up on the hill. The guide says that he is nocturnal and hunts at night. I got a great picture though...I highly recommend being the first car out!!!

I just got back also and saw him walking about.

 

[Christine43]

We went on the first safari of the day in October and we were lucky enough to have the male lion roar irritably at us. It was great and the guide said she had never heard him roar before. I only wish we had a camcorder.

 

[declansdad]

I think they are animatronic lions.

 

[Christine43]

I also meant to mention....I also highly recommend being on the first or last safari. If you go very close to the time the animals are returned to their compounds for dinner they will probably be much more active. We timed our safari ride for our second AK day around then and saw not only the lions pacing around but the cheetahs (who've we've never seen at all before) walking around.

 

[PrincessKitty1]

All the animals on the safari ride are real (except for the little elephant that is being poached ).

I love going on the rides and hearing people speculate about what's real and what's not! It's very nostalgic ('cause that's what DH and I were doing when we first started going to the parks ).

 

[Debbie-TN]

We have seen the lions up a few times. On the last trip, the lioness was grooming the lions mane, but missed the picture.

 

[Joanna71985]

Here's my picture of the lion from last week (it had just stopped raining. There were so many animals out. It was amazing!).

And I don't know how well you can see (as the picture is dark), but here is the cheetah. It was the first time I had seen it out.

 

[MonoManBlue]

RAAWWRRRR

 

[jenjersnap]

I've seen a female walking around but the male only yawns and shakes his head like "What are these stupid humans DOING staring at us?!"

We've had good luck spotting the cheetah(s) lying in the trees. Of course, we were convinced they were animatronic because they are always in the same spot until we saw one roll around last Sept.