DISNEY’S ANIMAL KINGDOM

Disney’s Animal Kingdom is more like a funeral parlor than a theme park. At least thirty-one animals died before the park even opened, including two West African crowned cranes who were run over by safari trucks, four cheetah cubs who swallowed a toxin found in antifreeze, and two Oriental small-clawed otters who ate poisonous seeds from loquat trees planted in their exhibit.

One visitor to Animal Kingdom noted a nocturnal kinkajou trying to sleep in a glass case with blaring lights, a dove trying to incubate her eggs while on display, and a number of baby animals who were separated from their caged mothers. Parrots are forced to perform on cue and lizards are carted around in containers at the pseudo-African theme park.

Animals meant to roam free are miserable in captivity. Artificial "habitats" may look pretty to people who only have to look at them for a few minutes, but for animals forced to spend their whole lives there, they are nothing more than depressing cages. Captive animals’ lives are devoid of much of what they crave, including natural behaviors like flying, swimming, running, hunting, climbing, scavenging, choosing partners, and raising families. These animals belong in their natural habitats.

Disney’s claims of conservation and education are absurd in a commercialized land of fake “habitats” and real rainforest mahogany souvenirs. In order to build snack bars and cages for imported animals, Disney bulldozed tens of thousands of acres of wildlife habitat in the central Florida flatlands, killing native gopher tortoises and other animals.

WHAT YOU CAN DO
Write to the Walt Disney Company.

Ask that Disney offer refuge for the many unwanted exotic animals living in deplorable conditions in this country.

Ask Disney to make an immediate commitment never to capture or purchase any animal, including marine mammals.

Demand that Disney not breed any animal at Animal Kingdom!

Michael Eisner, CEO
Walt Disney Company
500 Buena Vista Street
Burbank, CA 91521