“These two birds represent the care and dedication that our cast members have provided over the years, symbolizing an incredible opportunity for zoos to play a vital role in saving species,” – Disney’s Animal Kingdom vet Dr. Deidre.
What’s Happening:
- Disney has announced that they have successfully released two Guam kingfishers back into the wild on Palmyra Atoll, a small island south of Hawaii.
- After years of collaboration, Walt Disney World and Disney Planet Possible have taken another important step in preserving the endangered species.
- The Guam kingfisher, also known as the sihek by Guam’s indigenous CHamoru people, was ruled extinct in the wild in 1988 after invasive brown tree snakes were introduced to Guam in the 1950s.
- As one of only nine US organizations involved in the Sihek Recovery Program, Disney is committed to helping bring the orange and blue medium-sized bird back to the wild.
- There are, currently, only 127 Guam kingfishers being cared for in the continental US and a Guam Department of Agriculture facility.
- Disney has been involved in the birds’ conservation through work with the Associate of Zoos and Aquariums and the Guam Kingfisher Species Survival Plan.
- At Disney’s Animal Kingdom, veterinarians and animal care experts who work in their Avian Research Center have been able to share their successes in caretaking the Guam kingfishers with the Sihek Recovery Program in hopes to reintroduce them to Guam’s ecosystem.
- The theme park also helped enable a breeding pair that successfully laid an egg.
- That egg later hatched at another AZA facility and was a part of this year’s release program.
- Disney Veterinarian Dr. Deidre has led the research at DAK since 2010. She shared “Our primary goal right now is to build what’s called an insurance population of these birds. We hope to have a genetically diverse population, with the hope that they breed and expand to build bigger populations in the future.”
- As part of their release program, the animals have to be carefully acclimated into a predator-free habitat to track how they fare in the wild. The program hopes to, eventually, reintroduce them back in Guam where they can breed naturally and repopulate.
- The 2024 release saw two of Disney’s Guam kingfishers undergo pre-release quarantine and health assessments. Back in August, the pair received final checks before being flown in containers, which were decorated with art created by the children of Disney cast members, to the Sedgwick County Zoo in Kansas. Later that month, they were flown to Palmyra Atoll.
- Before the Guam kingfishers were released, each bird was given a small radio transmitter to help experts track their movement and progress as they acclimate to their new environment.
- Dr. Diedre stated “The Nature Conservancy has a staff monitoring these birds with small transmitters to track them. We have established a network of support through telemedicine and conference calls to address any issues as these birds adapt to their new environment.”
- This is only a small part of Disney Conservations efforts to protect wildlife. In Guam alone, Disney is working to help the repopulation of the Guam rail and hundreds of other bird specials globally.
- The Disney Conservation Fund has directed more than $125 million to conservation programs since 1995.
- You can learn more about Disney’s commitment to the environment here.
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