How Disney’s Animal Kingdom Helped Return an Extinct Bird Return to the Wild

While Disney’s Animal Kingdom is known for its unique attractions, world-class dining, and immersive environments, its commitment to conservation really sets the park apart.

Not only does Animal Kingdom promote conservation through the stories that it tells, but also in more practical ways through its Animal Care teams and partnership with other wildlife organizations.

The latest example of Disney’s amazing work came today when two birds that received care at Disney’s Animal Kingdom were released into the wild.

The Return of the Guam Kingfisher

Disney is one of nine organizations working to save the Guam Kingfisher, a bird native to Guam. Unfortunately, the bird has been extinct in the wild for years. In fact, the bird was officially declared extinct in 1988.

Recently, the coalition reached a major milestone when two birds from the Animal Kingdom were released into the wild. This marks the first time the birds have been in the wild in almost forty years.

Photo: Tracy Aviary

“Now we’re at a monumental moment where we have two birds, one that had an egg that was laid here, and a bird that came here to go through a health assessment prior to release as a part of this global conservation effort on Palmyra and Disney’s heritage will live on as a part of this conservation program and it has been a real team effort to be a part of that,” Dr. Deidre Fontenot told ClickOrlando.

The Challenges and the Triumphs

According to the doctor, there were particular challenges in caring for the birds in captivity.

“There are very important cues, and skill sets that come with taking care of the species,” Fontenot said.

“It makes them incredibly charismatic. They’re a Kingfisher species, so they eat lots of lizards and do a lot of hunting in the wild. But they are very aggressive about their territory. So, keeping them in a zoo environment has been challenging and there’s been a rising level of expertise, including our team members here with our birds’ team.”

The Guam Kingfishers initially went extinct after an invasive species called the Brown Tree Snake was introduced in the 1950s. Now, the birds are back.

Photo: BBC

“Knowing that I’m handling and taking care of these birds that are going to have to basically fly off into an important legacy is pretty surreal,” Fontenot said. “It really is truly an example of how zoos are saving species and this particular small story of this little bird from Guam is just an amazing symbol of the successes of zoos and aquariums.”