Two New Critters Arrive at Disney’s Animal Kingdom

Two New Critters Arrive at Disney's Animal Kingdom anteater-03

UPDATE 1/12/21: The Disney Parks Blog announced that the baby rhino born back in October received his name. Actually, he reveals his name in this adorable video below; take a look!




Important: This post contains a big spoiler if you haven’t watched Episode 5 of Magic of Disney’s Animal Kingdom, called Aardvark Love.


Some of you may remember a story I shared last month about the new Magic of Disney’s Animal Kingdom series on Disney+ where I participated in an interview with Joe Rohde and Dr. Mark Penning – the Vice President of Disney’s Animal Kingdom, Science & Environment. If you haven’t had the chance to read the interview, click HERE to get caught up.



In addition to being a part of an awesome conversation, I was generously granted early access to all eight episodes of this informative series and watched them one after another straight through. One of the episodes in the series contained an arranged date night and it was too cute. As a result of the aardvark date night covered in one of the episodes, there is a new addition in the family!

Below (left) is a photo of Karanga, a female baby aardvark born earlier this month at Rafiki’s Planet Watch at Disney’s Animal Kingdom Theme Park. She is the first baby aardvark in her family – and in the park’s history, and keepers decided to name her after mom – Karanga means Peanut in Swahili. The photo below on the right shows Karanga with her mom whose name is Peanut.

Additionally, Kendi the white rhino gave birth to a baby boy this past Sunday.



Two New Critters Arrive at Disney's Animal Kingdom baby-white-rhyno

“Kendi was paired with dad Dugan through one of the Species Survival Plans, which are overseen by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums to ensure the responsible breeding of endangered species. White rhinos are an endangered species with a near-threatened status. Some of their adventures in pairing will be featured in an upcoming episode of the Magic of Disney’s Animal Kingdom.”

The little one’s name hasn’t been announced just yet, but we’ll let you know when we hear!



Source: Disney Parks Blog

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Jackie Gailey
Senior Editor for The DIS and DCL Fan | Disney Vacation Club Member | Thrilled to have been a '13/'14 planDisney Panelist | Lover of all things Disney; the Magic of Disneyland, Walt Disney World, and especially Disney Cruise Line | ºoº















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